prehuman

• pre-human

From pre- +‎ human.

prehuman (not comparable)

1. Preceding the advent of modern humanity, Homo sapiens.

   Synonym: antehuman

   Antonyms: posthuman, transhuman

   Hypernym: nonhuman

   Coordinate term: human

   • 2007 March 9, The New York Times, “Spare Times”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     In the recently opened Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins, there are more than 200 casts of prehuman and human fossils and artifacts that illustrate stages in physical and behavioral evolution.

prehuman (plural prehumans)

1. One of the human-like creatures that existed before Homo sapiens.

   Antonyms: posthuman, transhuman

   Hypernym: nonhuman

   Coordinate term: human

   • 2009 February 27, John Noble Wilford, “Prints Show a Modern Foot in Prehumans”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     They said the find also added to evidence that painted a picture of Homo erectus as the prehumans who took long evolutionary strides — figuratively and, now it seems, also literally.