Standard Lemma guide

paleo-

prefix · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈpæl.i.əʊ/
  • UK: /ˈpeɪ.li.əʊ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈpæl.i.ə/
  • US: /ˈpeɪ.li.ə/
  • US: /-oʊ/

1

prefix

Meaning 1

Old; ancient or primitive.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

prefix

Meaning 2

Related to paleontology.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

prefix

Meaning 3

Used to form informal names of taxa; basal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Ancient Greek παλαιός (palaiós, “old”).

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 古- (gǔ-) — old
  • Finnish: paleo- — old
  • Finnish: muinais- — old
  • French: paléo- — old
  • Galician: paleo- — old
  • German: paläo- — old
  • Greek: παλαιο- (palaio-) — old
  • Hindi: पुरा- (purā-) — old
  • Irish: pailé(a)- — old
  • Japanese: 旧- (kyū-) — old
  • Portuguese: paleo- — old
  • Vietnamese: -cổ — old
  • Finnish: paleo- — primitive
  • Hindi: पुरा (purā) — primitive
  • Irish: pailé(a)- — primitive
  • Portuguese: paleo- — primitive
  • Finnish: paleo- — related to paleontology
  • French: paléo- — related to paleontology
  • Greek: παλαιο- (palaio-) — related to paleontology
  • Hindi: पुरा (purā) — related to paleontology
  • Irish: pailé(a)- — related to paleontology
  • Portuguese: paleo- — related to paleontology