Pelasgian

[ puh-laz-jee-uhn, -juhn, -gee-uhn ]

adjective

1. of or relating to the Pelasgians.

noun

1. a member of a prehistoric people inhabiting Greece, Asia Minor, and the islands of the eastern Mediterranean.

Pelasgian

/ pɛˈlæzdʒɪən /

noun

1. a member of any of the pre-Hellenic peoples (the Pelasgi ) who inhabited Greece and the islands and coasts of the Aegean Sea before the arrival of the Bronze Age Greeks

adjective

1. of or relating to these peoples

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pelasgian¹

1480–90; ≪ Greek Pelásgi ( os ) Pelasgian ( Pelasg ( oí ) Pelasgi + -ios adj. suffix) + -an

Example Sentences

From each of these uses, the last especially, we may draw fresh presumptions of his high estimate of the Pelasgian name.

From Project Gutenberg

Now it may have been the general rule to call the citadels of the Pelasgian towns Larissa.

From Project Gutenberg

Such I have presumed to have been the ordinary history of the Pelasgian Larissas.

From Project Gutenberg

Hence it is easy to account both for its original Pelasgian character, and for the long retention of it.

From Project Gutenberg

From its rich pastures, Arcadia was originally well adapted for Pelasgian inhabitants.

From Project Gutenberg