prediluvian, a. and n.
(priːdɪˈl(j)uːvɪən)
[f. pre- B. 1 + diluvian.]
= antediluvian:
A. adj. Existing or occurring before the Noachian deluge. rare.
B. n. One who lived before the Deluge.
| 1804 Collins Scripscrap 169 Prediluvians, uplifted and pompous Deem'd his nautical Scheme a fantastical Dream. 1855 Wyllie in M. Hopkins Hawaii (1862) 320 The original language spoken by Adam and the prediluvian race of man, if not the post-diluvian Hebrew, has disappeared. 1928 V. G. Childe Most Anc. East i. 15 The Prediluvian kings' reigns are all incredibly long. 1931 C. Williams Place of Lion xvi. 277 Some incantation whereby the prediluvian magicians had controlled contentions among spirits. 1981 Times Lit. Suppl. 26 June 731/2 Their pre-diluvian fundamentalist faith. |