paleo-

See also: paleo, paleó, paléo-, palaeo-, palæo-, and paläo-

English

Alternative forms

• palaeo-, palae-
• pale-
• palæo-, palæ- (archaic or archaicizing)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpæl.i.əʊ/, /ˈpeɪ.li.əʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpæl.i.ə/, /ˈpeɪ.li.ə/, /-oʊ/

Prefix

paleo-

1. Old; ancient or primitive
2. Related to paleontology.
3. Used to form informal names of taxa; basal.

Antonyms

• neo-

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with paleo-

Translations

old

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 古- (zh) (gǔ-)

• Finnish: paleo- (fi), muinais- (fi)
• French: paléo- (fr)
• German: paläo- (de)
• Greek: παλαιο- (el) (palaio-)
• Irish: pailé(a)-
• Japanese: 旧- (ja) (きゅう-, kyū-)
• Portuguese: paleo-
• Vietnamese: -cổ

primitive

• Finnish: paleo- (fi)
• Irish: pailé(a)-
• Portuguese: paleo-

related to paleontology

• Finnish: paleo- (fi)
• French: paléo- (fr)
• Greek: παλαιο- (el) (palaio-)
• Irish: pailé(a)-
• Portuguese: paleo-

Catalan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [pəˌle.u]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [pəˌle.o]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [paˌle.o]

(attracts secondary stress)

Prefix

paleo-

1. paleo-, old

   Antonym: neo-

Derived terms

Catalan terms prefixed with paleo-

Further reading

• “paleo-”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025

Esperanto

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [paˈleo]
• Rhymes: -eo
• Hyphenation: pa‧le‧o

Prefix

paleo-

1. (sciences) paleo-

   ‎paleo- + ‎botaniko (“botany”) → ‎paleobotaniko (“paleobotany”)

   ‎paleo- + ‎ekologio (“ecology”) → ‎paleoekologio (“paleoecology”)

   ‎paleo- + ‎magnetismo (“magnetism”) → ‎paleomagnetismo (“paleomagnetism”)

   ‎paleo- + ‎grundo (“soil”) → ‎paleogrundo (“paleosol”)

Derived terms

Esperanto terms prefixed with paleo-

Finnish

Etymology

Internationalism (see English paleo-), ultimately from Ancient Greek παλαιός (palaiós).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɑleo-/, [ˈpɑ̝le̞o̞-]

Prefix

paleo-

1. paleo-

Derived terms

Finnish terms prefixed with paleo-

Anagrams

• lepoa

Italian

Alternative forms

• pale- (before a vowel)

Prefix

paleo-

1. paleo-

Derived terms

Italian terms prefixed with paleo-

• paleoavanguardia
• paleobiogeografia
• Paleocene
• paleoconservatore
• paleocorteccia
• Paleogene
• paleoindustriale
• paleontografico
• paleopallio
• paleottero

 

See also

• archeo- (“archaeo-”)

Anagrams

• opale

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek παλαιός (palaiós, “old”).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pa‧le‧o-

Prefix

paleo-

1. paleo-

Derived terms

Portuguese terms prefixed with paleo-

Spanish

Prefix

paleo-

1. paleo-

Derived terms

Spanish terms prefixed with paleo-

Further reading

• “paleo-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Prefix

paleo-

1. paleo-; prehistoric, pertaining to paleontology

Derived terms

Swedish terms prefixed with paleo-