"pertaining to the early Stone Age," 1890, from French éolithique (1883), from eo- "earliest" (see eo-) + French lithique, as in néolithique (see neolithic). Related: eolith (1890).
Entries linking to eolithic
eo-
word-forming element, used from mid-19c. (first in Eocene) in compound words formed by earth-scientists, and meaning "characterized by the earliest appearance of," from Greek ēōs "dawn, morning, daybreak," also the name of the goddess of the morning, from PIE root *aus- (1) "to shine," especially of the dawn. Piltdown Man, before exposed as a fraud, was known as Eoanthropus.
neolithic adj.
"pertaining to the later Stone Age, belonging to the period of highly finished and polished stone implements," 1865, coined by John Lubbock, later Baron Avebury, (1834-1913) from neo- "new" + -lith "stone" + -ic.