Stone Age

noun

the period in the history of humankind, preceding the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, and marked by the use of stone implements and weapons: subdivided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods.

Origin

1860-65

British Dictionary definitions for Stone Age

Stone Age

noun

a period in human culture identified by the use of stone implements and usually divided into the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic stages

modifier

(sometimes not capitals) of or relating to this period: stone-age man

Stone Age in Science

Stone Age
The earliest known period of human culture, marked by the use of stone tools. See Mesolithic, Neolithic, Paleolithic. See Note at Three Age system.

Stone Age in Culture

Stone Age definition

A period encompassing all of human history, perhaps several million years, before the Bronze Age. In the Stone Age, people learned to make and use stone tools and weapons.

Stone Age in Technology

jargon
In computer folklore, an ill-defined period from ENIAC (ca. 1943) to the mid-1950s; the great age of electromechanical dinosaurs. Sometimes used for the entire period up to 1960-61 (see Iron Age); however, it is more descriptive to characterise the latter period in terms of a "Bronze Age" era of transistor-logic, pre-ferrite core memory machines with drum or CRT mass storage (as opposed to just mercury delay lines and/or relays).
More generally, the term is used pejoratively for ancient hardware or software, even by survivors from the Stone Age.
[Jargon File]
(2003-09-27)