Cro-magnon
name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The earliest known form of modern human (Homo sapiens) in Europe, dating from the late Paleolithic.
"The Cro-Magnons may have been one important step beyond the Neanderthals in social organization.[…]That the Cro-Magnons and the Neanderthals encountered each other is probable. There seems to be no more than a five-thousand-year interval between the general occupation of home sites by the Neanderthals and their replacement by Cro-Magnon tools and fossils."
- 2 extinct human of Upper Paleolithic in Europe wordnet
- 3 A backward and stupid person, a knuckle-dragger or troglodyte. derogatory
- 1 The rock shelter in Les Eyzies, France, where the first Cro-Magnon Man specimens were found.
Example
More examples"The Cro-Magnons may have been one important step beyond the Neanderthals in social organization.[…]That the Cro-Magnons and the Neanderthals encountered each other is probable. There seems to be no more than a five-thousand-year interval between the general occupation of home sites by the Neanderthals and their replacement by Cro-Magnon tools and fossils."
Etymology
From French Cro-Magnon, from Occitan Cròs-Manhon. Named after Abri de Cro-Magnon, a rock shelter in the commune of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil, Dordogne, France, where the first skeletons were found in 1868.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.