Usage Note
Preistorico means belonging to prehistory, before written records. It can also be used colloquially and humorously to mean hopelessly old-fashioned — quella tecnologia è preistorica (that technology is prehistoric). The masculine plural is preistorici, the feminine plural preistoriche (the -ch- preserves the hard 'k' sound before -e/-i).
Examples
"I dipinti preistorici nelle grotte sono straordinari."
Natural Translation
The prehistoric paintings in the caves are extraordinary.
Literal Translation
The paintings prehistoric in-the caves are extraordinary.

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