stone age

/'stoun'eidʤ/

Thân thiện

A family in the Stone Age uses stone tools to prepare food.

Definition

1. Proper noun:
   • The earliest known period of human prehistory: The Stone Age is a prehistoric period characterized by the primary use of stone tools and weapons, before the widespread adoption of metallurgy. It is divided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods.

Usage Examples

• Proper noun:
  • Archaeologists study artifacts from the Stone Age to understand early human development.
  • Cave paintings from the Stone Age provide insight into the lives of our ancestors.
  • The transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age marked a significant technological advancement.

Advanced Usage

• "Stone-Age" (as an attributive adjective): Used to describe something as extremely primitive or outdated.
  • His management style is positively Stone-Age. (This implies his methods are antiquated.)
  • They were using Stone-Age technology to solve a modern problem.

Variants and Related Words

• Paleolithic (adj/n): Relating to or denoting the early phase of the Stone Age.
• Neolithic (adj/n): Relating to or denoting the later part of the Stone Age.
• Lithic (adj): Relating to stone, especially as a material for tools or weapons.

Synonyms

• Prehistoric period: A general term for the time before written records.
• Lithic age: A less common synonym emphasizing the use of stone.

Related Phrases

• "Throw someone back into the Stone Age": An idiom meaning to cause a severe regression to a primitive state, often technologically or socially.
  • The cyberattack threw the company's operations back into the Stone Age.

Học thuật

Noun

1. (archeology) the earliest known period of human culture, characterized by the use of stone implements

Từ đồng nghĩa

• stone age