anciently

In olden times

Anciently means in ancient times or long ago: Anciently, this land was covered by forest.

The word is literary and old-fashioned, largely replaced by phrases like "in ancient times" or simply "long ago." It appears most often in historical or religious writing.

prehistoric

primordial

Existing from the start

antediluvianExtremely old or obsolete
paleolithicEarliest tool-making period
neolithicFinal Stone Age period

protohistoric · megalith · petroglyph · pictogram · flintknapping · megafauna · dolmen · menhir · barrow · henge

outmoded

antiquated

Old and outdated

obsoleteNo longer in use
datedOld-fashioned or courted
outmodedNo longer in fashion

archaic · old-fashioned · quaint · old-world · premodern · fusty · bygone · outdated · anachronistic · behind-the-times

historical

antiquity

Great age, ancient era

civilizationAdvanced organized human society
dynastySuccessive family rulers
empireDomain under unified control

chronicle · scripture · papyrus · artifact · archaeology · excavation · monument · pyramid · sphinx · fresco

mythical

legendary

Famous beyond ordinary measure

mythicalOf folklore, not fact
ancestralOf one's forebears
timelessUnaffected by eras

immortal · eternal · forgotten · lost · fabled · storied · epic · heroic · saga · lore

Opposites

temporal recency

ancientlyrecently

In the near past

lately · currently · presently · nowadays · today

Phrases

ancient historyStudy of earliest civilizations
ancient empiresHistorical superpowers now vanished
ancient coinsCurrency from past eras
ancient timesLong-ago historical era
ancient religionsSpiritual practices of antiquity
ancient deitiesGods of antiquity

Family

ancient, ancients, ancientness

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated G