paleo

1 of 2

noun

pa·leo ˈpā-lē-ō

especially British ˈpa-

plural paleos

or Paleo plural Paleos : a Paleo diet

By returning to the diet of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, the proponents of Paleo claim, we can restore our happiness, health, and waistlines.—

Alesh Houdek

In fact, so popular is paleo eating that it's been the subject of more than a dozen books … and numerous websites and blogs …—

Shawn Perine

: paleoconservative

paleo-

2 of 2

combining form

variants or before a vowel pale-

: involving or dealing with ancient forms or conditions

paleobotany

: early : primitive : archaic

Paleolithic

Examples of paleo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Noun

And Zander is on friggin' paleo! —

Dalton Ross, EW.com, 11 Nov. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Combining form

borrowed from New Latin palaeo-, borrowed from Greek palaio-, combining form from palaiós "old, of long standing, ancient," adjective derivative of pálai "long since, in the past," of uncertain origin

Note: Greek pálai was formerly compared with têle "far off, in the distance," both being referred to an Indo-European base *k^wel-, whence also Sanskrit caramáḥ "outermost, last." However, if Mycenaean Greek pa-ra-jo- is correctly glossed as "old," the etymon would not have begun with a labiovelar and the comparison falls into serious difficulty. See John Chadwick, "The Etymology of Greek πάλαι," Glotta, Band 54, Heft 1 (1976), pp. 68-71; Chadwick suggests that if the original meaning of pálai was "in the recent past, before now," the word could be connected with pélas "near," plēsíon "nearby, neighboring."