What does "preindustrial" mean?

Of or relating to the period before the Industrial Revolution and the global industrialisation that followed.

What is a synonym for "preindustrial"?

Common synonyms include: artisanal.

Preindustrial

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1
Of or relating to the period before the Industrial Revolution and the global industrialisation that followed. not-comparable
"Civilization has already exceeded a global warming of ~1.0◦C above pre-industrial conditions[.]"
2
Not yet industrialized. not-comparable
"a preindustrial nation"

Synonyms

All synonyms

artisanal

Antonyms

All antonyms

postindustrial

Example

More examples

"With substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the increase in global annual average temperature relative to preindustrial times could be limited to less than 3.6°F (2°C)."

Etymology

From pre- + industrial.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.