caveman

Etymology

It is formed from English cave + man.^[2][3] The OED notes that its first sense owes something to Plato's cave, and compares caver for the sense "explorer of caves".^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who lives in a cave: first recorded in 1706, in R. Brocklesby's Explication of Gospel-theism.^[2] The OED, which revised the entry in 2021, notes that this general sense is somewhat rare.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The usual sense, a prehistoric human who lived in caves and then any prehistoric human, is recorded from 1862,^[2] and is dated 1865 by Etymonline and Merriam-Webster.^[3][4][5] From 1907 the word was used of a man likened to such a person, rough, uncivilised or violent in manner, especially towards women.^[2][6][4] Hendrickson traces this sense to the title of John Corbin's best-selling romantic novel The Cave Man (1907).^[7] The feminine cave-woman is recorded from 1904,^[3] and the OED records caveman from 1932 for an explorer of caves, a sense it calls somewhat rare.^[2][4] In slang it has been used as an adjective for something hopelessly out of date (1974) and in British skateboarding for an old-style manoeuvre (2004).^[8]

Timeline

• 1706 – a person who lives in a cave.^[2]
• 1862 – a prehistoric human who lived in caves, or any prehistoric human.^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to 1865.^[2][3][4]
• 1907 – a man thought of as primitive, rough or violent.^[2][7]
• 1932 – an explorer of caves.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A prehistoric human who lived in caves, especially in the Stone Age; loosely, any prehistoric human.^[4][6][2]
2. A man who behaves in a crude, rough or brutal way, especially towards women: Her brother acted like a caveman at the dinner table.^[6][4][2]
3. Someone who explores caves; a caver or speleologist.^[4][2]

Related words

• cave
• caver

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
8. ^ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge