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neanderthal

Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective uncouth in manners or appearance.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Primitive, old-fashioned, opposed to change (in allusion to the now extinct species Homo neanderthalensis).
  • noun pejorative A primitive person or a person with old-fashioned ideas or who opposes change.
  • noun A specimen of the now extinct species Homo neanderthalensis.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective ill-mannered and coarse and contemptible in behavior or appearance
  • adjective relating to or belonging to or resembling Neanderthal man
  • noun extinct robust human of Middle Paleolithic in Europe and western Asia

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the name of the German valley where Neanderthal 1 was discovered in 1856. The Düsseltal (from German Düssel, a small tributary of the River Rhine + tal ("valley")) itself was renamed (from Das Gesteins ("The Rockiness") and/or Das Hundsklipp ("The Cliff of Dogs")) in the early 19th century to Neandershöhle ("Neander’s Hollow"), and again in 1850 to Neanderthal ("Neander Valley"); both names were in honour of the German Calvinist theologian and hymn writer Joachim Neander (1650–1680). The surname Neander is a Romanisation of the Greek translation of the original German surname Neumann ("New man"), for which reason Homo neanderthalensis is sometimes called New man in English.

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synonyms (4)

Words with the same meaning

  1. boorish
  2. clownish
  3. loutish
  4. oafish

equivalents (1)

Other words for 'neanderthal'

  1. unrefined

hypernyms (4)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. homo
  2. human
  3. human being
  4. man

same context (25)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. ape-like
  2. dirt-encrusted
  3. erectus
  4. fleshless
  5. fossilize
  6. gap-toothed
  7. great-great
  8. hairless
  9. hangdog
  10. hisher
  11. hollowed-out
  12. hominid
  13. humanoid
  14. low-browed
  15. mammalian
  16. million-year-old
  17. prehistoric
  18. proprietorial
  19. sleety
  20. squashy
  21. thick-necked
  22. untaxed
  23. vacant-eyed
  24. vulgar-looking
  25. well-preserved

Comments

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  • shirlcintx commented on the word neanderthal

    From 1674-1679, Joachim Neander was a school principal and preacher in a valley near Dusseldof, Germany, which had numerous caves, grottos and waterfalls. He wrote many church hymns there, and in the 19th century, the entire valley was called the Neander Valley (in German, Neanderthal). Thus Joachim Neander the distinction of being the only hymnist with a fossil homind named after him, "The Neanderthal Man!"

    June 26, 2009