antediluvian
/ˌæn.tɪ.dɪˈluː.vɪ.ən/
antediluvian means belonging or pertaining to, or existing in, the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, or (by extension) to a great or destructive flood or deluge described in other mythologies.
antediluvian is pronounced /ˌæn.tɪ.dɪˈluː.vɪ.ən/.
Why “antediluvian” is a great word
Belonging to or existing in the time before the biblical flood, or, by extension, extremely old or antiquated. From the Latin *ante-* ("before") + *diluvium* ("flood, deluge") + *-an* ("pertaining to"), first recorded in English use 1640–50. Unlike "archaic," which simply denotes something no longer in common use, or "prehistoric," a scientific term for the age before written records, "antediluvian" evokes a world of mythic, submerged origins. It is the taste of salt in sandstone, the fossilized curve of a creature unknown to any catalogue, the silhouette of a forgotten city beneath a silt-heavy sea—a word for that which was purposefully erased, leaving only a sediment of memory.
Etymology
From ante- (prefix meaning ‘prior to in time’) + Latin dīluvium (“a flood”) + -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives; and forming agent nouns), referring the story of Noah’s Ark, through which God rescues Noah, his family, and examples of all the world’s animals from the great flood, which is related in Genesis 6–9 of the Bible. Dīluvium is derived from dīluō (“to wash away”) (from dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, asunder, in two’) + lavō (“to wash”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”))) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The English word is analyzable as ante- + diluvian. Adjective sense 2 (“long extinct”) is from the fact that such animals and plants were originally believed to have perished in the biblical flood referred to abo
adj
- Belonging or pertaining to, or existing in, the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, or (by extension) to a great or destructive flood or deluge described in other mythologies.
- Of animals and plants: long extinct; prehistoric.
- Of a person or thing: very old; ancient.
- Of attitudes, ideas, etc.: extremely old-fashioned, especially to a laughable extent; antiquated.e.g.“Those ideas are antediluvian.”
noun
- A person who lived in the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, especially one of the biblical patriarchs.
- A very old person.e.g.“From what cursed old antediluvian, who lived before the invention of the spinning-jennies, she learned this craft, Heaven only knows; […]”
- A person with extremely old-fashioned attitudes, ideas, etc., especially to a laughable extent; a fogey or old fogey.
Words closest in meaning
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