FROM THE ARCHIVEWednesday, October 14, 2026
antediluvian
an-tee-duh-LOO-vee-un/ˌæntidəˈluviən//adjective
01 / MEANING
Extremely old-fashioned or ancient; literally, from before a great flood.
In a sentence.
- 01
The office still relied on an antediluvian filing system.
- 02
In the story, an antediluvian world lies beneath the sea.
Where it came from.
Ante- means ‘before’ and Latin dīluvium means ‘flood.’ The literal reference was to the biblical flood, before the word grew into a playful way to call something very old.
Explore the sourceWhy it’s interesting.
It stretches an ordinary complaint about outdated technology all the way back to a world before the Flood.