any of various prehistoric primates that resembled modern humans
adjective
2.
of or relating to any of these primates
protohuman in American English
(ˌproʊtoʊˈhjumən)
adjective
of or relating to the humanlike primates that exist or did exist
protohuman in American English
(ˌproutouˈhjuːmən, or, often -ˈjuː-)
adjective
1.
of, pertaining to, or resembling extinct hominid populations that had some but not all the features of modern Homo sapiens
noun
2.
a protohuman animal
Word origin
[1905–10; proto- + human]This word is first recorded in the period 1905–10. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: jazz, overcall, revolving door, scrounge, stabilizerproto- is a combining form meaning “first,” “foremost,” “earliest form of,” used in theformation of compound words (protomartyr; protolithic; protoplasm), specialized in chemical terminology to denote the first of a series of compounds,or the one containing the minimum amount of an element