Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Relating to the Neolithic period: Of or belonging to the latest period of the Stone Age, characterized by the development of agriculture, polished stone tools, and settled communities.
   • Extremely old-fashioned or outdated: (Figurative, often lowercase) Used to describe something as primitive or belonging to a much earlier, unsophisticated time.

2. Noun:

   • The Neolithic period: The latest part of the Stone Age, beginning around 10,000 BC in the Middle East, marked by the advent of farming and the domestication of animals.

Examples

• Adjective:

  • Archaeologists discovered Neolithic tools at the site.
  • His views on management are positively neolithic. (figurative, lowercase)

• Noun:

  • The transition from hunting and gathering to farming occurred during the Neolithic.

Advanced Usage

• "Neolithic Revolution": A term for the wide-scale transition of many human cultures from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement.
  • The Neolithic Revolution was a fundamental turning point in human history.

Variants and Related Words

• Neolith (n): A stone tool or artifact from the Neolithic period.
• Neolithic Age: Another term for the Neolithic period.

Synonyms

• New Stone Age: The literal meaning and a direct synonym for the Neolithic period.
• Primitive: (For the figurative adjective sense) Rudimentary, antiquated.

Antonyms

• Modern: Contemporary, current.
• Mesolithic: Relating to the Middle Stone Age, the period preceding the Neolithic.
• Paleolithic: Relating to the Old Stone Age, the period preceding the Mesolithic.

Adjective

1. of or relating to the most recent period of the Stone Age (following the mesolithic)
   • evidence of neolithic settlements

Noun

1. latest part of the Stone Age beginning about 10,000 BC in the Middle East (but later elsewhere)