pre-Adamite

American  

[pree-ad-uh-mahyt] / priˈæd əˌmaɪt /

noun

1. a person supposed to have existed before Adam.

2. a person who believes that there were people in existence before Adam.

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adjective

1. Also pre-Adamic existing before Adam.

2. of or relating to the pre-Adamites.

Etymology

Origin of pre-Adamite

First recorded in 1655–65; pre- + Adam + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

It is a region of rocks, petrifactions, and other pre-Adamite peculiarities.

From Humorous Masterpieces from American Literature by Various

It-would almost seem as if some pre-Adamite butcher had divided the carcasses longitudinally, and carried away with him all the upper halves.

From The Testimony of the Rocks or, Geology in Its Bearings on the Two Theologies, Natural and Revealed by Miller, Hugh

Art thou not ashamed to be seen grasping this limber sapling, in preference to the sceptre of the pre-Adamite sultans?

From Shorter Novels, Eighteenth Century The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia; The Castle of Otranto, a Gothic Story; Vathek, an Arabian Tale by Beckford, William

As he stood before that pre-Adamite stone man, I got one good, long look at his face.

From Phemie Frost's Experiences by Stephens, Ann S. (Ann Sophia)

For it is not without significance that the pre-Adamite economists were almost without exception the urgent defenders of religious toleration.

From Political Thought in England from Locke to Bentham by Laski, Harold Joseph