antiquities

Noun

antiquity (countable and uncountable, plural antiquities)

1. Ancient times; faraway history; former ages.
   • Cicero was an eloquent orator of antiquity.
2. The people of ancient times.
   • That such pillars were raised by Seth all antiquity has avowed.1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5)
3. (obsolete) An old gentleman.
   • You are a shrewd antiquity, neighbor Clench.1633 (first performance), Ben Jonson, “A Tale of a Tub. A Comedy […]”, in The Works of Beniamin Jonson, […] (Third Folio), London: […] Thomas Hodgkin, for H[enry] Herringman, E. Brewster, T. Bassett...
4. The historical period preceding the Middle Ages (c. 500-1500), primarily relating to European history.
5. (often constructed as an uncountable plural) A relic or monument of ancient times, such as a coin, a statue, etc.; an ancient institution.
   • New video released by ISIS shows militants smashing what they say are antiquities at a museum in Mosul, Iraq.2015 February 26, Ben Wedeman, Dana Ford, “Video shows ISIS militants destroying antiquities in Iraq”, in CNN, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2023
6. The state of being ancient or of ancient lineage.
   • He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

See all 7 meanings of antiquity