NEANDERTHAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Neanderthal mean? 

• NEANDERTHAL (noun)
  The noun NEANDERTHAL has 1 sense:

1. extinct robust human of Middle Paleolithic in Europe and western Asia

  Familiarity information: NEANDERTHAL used as a noun is very rare.

• NEANDERTHAL (adjective)
  The adjective NEANDERTHAL has 2 senses:

1. ill-mannered and coarse and contemptible in behavior or appearance

2. relating to or belonging to or resembling Neanderthal man

  Familiarity information: NEANDERTHAL used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NEANDERTHAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Extinct robust human of Middle Paleolithic in Europe and western Asia

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis; Neandertal; Neandertal man; Neanderthal; Neanderthal man

Hypernyms ("Neanderthal" is a kind of...):

homo; human; human being; man (any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage)

Holonyms ("Neanderthal" is a member of...):

genus Homo (type genus of the family Hominidae)

Derivation:

Neanderthal; Neanderthalian (relating to or belonging to or resembling Neanderthal man)

• NEANDERTHAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Ill-mannered and coarse and contemptible in behavior or appearance

Synonyms:

boorish; loutish; neandertal; neanderthal; oafish; swinish

Context example:

aristocratic contempt for the swinish multitude

Similar:

unrefined ((used of persons and their behavior) not refined; uncouth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Relating to or belonging to or resembling Neanderthal man

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

Neandertal; Neanderthal; Neanderthalian

Context example:

Neanderthal skull

Pertainym:

Neanderthal man (extinct robust human of Middle Paleolithic in Europe and western Asia)

Derivation:

Neanderthal (extinct robust human of Middle Paleolithic in Europe and western Asia)

 Context examples 

Some of the patterns of gene sharing we see between the butterflies have also been documented in comparisons of the human and Neanderthal genomes, so there is another link to our own evolution.

(Butterflies are genetically wired to choose a mate that looks just like them, University of Cambridge)

For example, these indicate that Neanderthals had more prominent visual systems than modern humans.

(“Residual echo” of ancient humans in scans may hold clues to mental disorders, National Institutes of Health)

The researchers also noted the girl's father, though Denisovan, had a trace of Neanderthal DNA, from perhaps as much as several hundred generations earlier.

(Fossil genome shows hybrid of two extinct species of human, Wikinews)

Until recently, it was thought that only people outside sub-Saharan Africa had Neanderthal DNA.

(Global human genome study reveals our complex evolutionary history, University of Cambridge)

The caves were once home to Neanderthals who lived in Europe during the Middle Paleolithic period.

(Neanderthals used resin 'glue' for tools, National Science Foundation)

Genetic analysis of the milk teeth revealed the two individuals sequenced showed no evidence of inbreeding which was occurring in the declining Neanderthal populations at the time.

(DNA from 31,000-year-old milk teeth leads to discovery of new group of ancient Siberians, University of Cambridge)

There has been ten times more sharing between these butterfly species than occurred between Neanderthals and humans.

(Butterflies are genetically wired to choose a mate that looks just like them, University of Cambridge)

Neanderthals have been found in Europe and Asia.

(Fossil genome shows hybrid of two extinct species of human, Wikinews)

The more a person’s genome carries genetic vestiges of Neanderthals, the more certain parts of his or her brain and skull resemble those of humans’ evolutionary cousins that went extinct 40,000 years ago.

(“Residual echo” of ancient humans in scans may hold clues to mental disorders, National Institutes of Health)

"We continue to find evidence that the Neanderthals were not inferior primitives but were quite capable of doing things that have traditionally only been attributed to modern humans," said Villa.

(Neanderthals used resin 'glue' for tools, National Science Foundation)