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Neanderthal

Pronunciation: /niːˈæn.dəˌtɑːl/

The English word “Neanderthal” has 7 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Of or pertaining to Homo neanderthalensis.
  2. Old-fashioned, opposed to change.
  3. Primitive, savage or uncivilized.
  4. Of or pertaining to the Neander Valley in Germany.

noun

  1. A specimen of the now extinct species Homo neanderthalensis.
  2. A primitive, savage or uncivilized person.
  3. A white person.

Etymology

From obsolete German Neanderthal, now spelled Neandertal, the name of a valley (German Tal, older also spelled Thal) near Düsseldorf where the first Neanderthal was discovered in 1856. A hollow near the valley was known as Neanderhöhle (“Neander Hollow”) and Neandershöhle (“Neander’s Hollow”) in the early 19th century, and the valley had been renamed to Neanderthal in 1850, in honour of the…

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