史前 (shǐ qián) — prehistoric; relating to the prehistoric era

Definition

adjective

prehistoricrelating to the prehistoric era

史前。
Kǎo gǔ xué jiā zài dòng xué lǐ fā xiàn le shǐ qián de bì huà.
Archaeologists discovered prehistoric cave paintings in the cave.
史前。
Zhè piàn qū yù yǒu shǐ qián rén lèi huó dòng de hén jì.
This area has traces of prehistoric human activity.
史前。
Hěn duō shǐ qián dòng wù yǐ jīng miè jué le.
Many prehistoric animals have gone extinct.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

史 means history and 前 means before, so the word means before history, i.e. prehistoric.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The old drawing showed someone holding a flag-like or writing tool, indicating the act of recording events; the exact inner shape is unclear.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In the older form of 前, 止 (foot) and 舟 (boat) showed a foot on a boat moving forward; in the current 前 those parts are shortened.

Appears in