Acheulean

UK/əˈ(t)ʃuːlɪən/

Acheulean adjective: of or pertaining to a lower Paleolithic period characterized by the presence of flaked bifacial hand axes.

Adjective

Acheulean (not comparable)

Of or pertaining to a lower Paleolithic period characterized by the presence of flaked bifacial hand axes.
- Assuming that language ability extends back to the hominids, we see a slow process of cultural development over millions of years, and then in the Acheulean period of Homo erectus, about three hundred thousand years ago, we find the first engraved tool.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 95
- When early modern humans – the ones who would eventually become us – started to move out of Africa something over a hundred thousand years ago, Acheulean tools were the technology of choice.2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, published 2003, page 402

the Acheulean

A lower Paleolithic period characterized by the presence of flaked bifacial hand axes.

alternative form	Acheulian

From French acheuléen, from Saint-Acheul, a suburb of Amiens where the first tools from this period were found.

What does Acheulean mean?: Acheulean means of or pertaining to a lower Paleolithic period characterized by the presence of flaked bifacial hand axes.
What part of speech is Acheulean?: Acheulean can be an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce Acheulean?: Acheulean is pronounced /əˈ(t)ʃuːlɪən/ (UK).

Adapted from Wiktionary: Acheulean (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “Acheulean.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/acheulean. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.