Definition of "preadamite" [pre•ad•am•ite]

• An inhabitant of the earth before Adam. (noun)
• One who holds that men existed before Adam. (noun)

Gnu Collaboartive International Dictionary of English: licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

• "I am trying to recall the peculiar instincts of the monsters of the preadamite world, who, coming next in succession after the molluscs, the crustaceans and le fishes, preceded the animals of mammalian race upon the earth."
• "This frightful mask of electric sparks suggests to me, even in this dizzy excitement, a comparison with preadamite man, the contemporary of the ichthyosaurus and the megatherium."
• "I thought I could see floating on the surface of the waters enormous chelonia, preadamite tortoises, resembling floating islands."