Neanderthal

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See also: neanderthal

English

Alternative forms

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 German Calvinist theologian and hymn writer Joachim Neander (1650–1680). Before, the valley was known as das Gesteins (literally “The Rocks ”) and Hundsklipp (literally “Dog Cliff”).

The name of Joachim Neander is based on the Ancient Greek translation (νέος (néos) + ᾰ̓νήρ (anḗr)) of his original surname Neumann (“Newman”).

The pronunciation with the "th" sound (/θ/) is a spelling pronunciation; the original German word is pronounced with a "t" sound (/t/).[1]

Pronunciation

Adjective

Neanderthal (not comparable)

  1. Of or pertaining to Homo neanderthalensis.
    The capacity of the Neanderthal skull was 10% larger than that of modern humans.
    • 2019, Razib Khan, Arabia between Africa and Eurasia‎:
      […] In short, many assessments conclude that East Asians have more Neanderthal ancestry than Europeans, who have more Neanderthal ancestry than people in the Middle East.
  2. (by extension) Old-fashioned, opposed to change.
  3. Of or pertaining to the Neander Valley in Germany.

Translations

Noun

Neanderthal (plural Neanderthals)

  1. A specimen of the now extinct species Homo neanderthalensis.
    Synonyms: Neandertaler, Neanderthalian
    • 2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Picador, →ISBN, pages 250–251:
      These injuries may reflect the rigors of hunting with the Neanderthals' limited repertoire of weapons; the Neanderthals never seem to have developed projectiles, so they would have to have gotten more or less on top of their prey in order to kill them.
  2. (derogatory) A primitive, savage or uncivilized person.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Spanish: neandertal

Translations

References

  1. ^ Bridget Alex (2016 August 25) “Is It Neander-TAL or Neander-THAL?”, in Discover‎, Waukesha, W.I.: Kalmbach Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 September 2023
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “Neanderthal” in Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Cambridge University Press, 2009

Further reading

German

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Neanderthal n (proper noun, strong, genitive Neanderthals)

  1. Obsolete spelling of Neandertal.

Usage notes

Derived terms

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