Rupestrian

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Pronunciation: /ɹuːˈpɛstɹiən/

Definitions

1. Pertaining to art, carvings, or inscriptions made on natural rock surfaces often by ancient peoples
2. Connected with images or symbols engraved or painted on rocks as a form of prehistoric expression
3. Describing anything associated with markings or artworks found on rocky formations or cliffs

Etymology: "Rupestrian" is built from the Latin "rūpes," meaning "rock" or "cliff," and the adjective "rupestris," meaning "of rocks" or "growing among rocks," which scholars of the Renaissance and later coined in New Latin. Its English form therefore carries the basic sense of rock straight through, so the word describes anything that lives on, grows among, or is made on stone. The modern meaning narrows that sense considerably. In archaeology, "rupestrian" refers to the images that prehistoric people engraved or painted onto rock faces and cave walls, so the word for a simple rock surface became a term for early human art. The adjective is used mainly in that technical setting, which is why it sounds specialized even though its parts are ordinary Latin.