Other forms: cavemen
A caveman is a person of prehistoric times who lived in caves. A caveman club, caveman diet, like a caveman.
Almost nobody actually lived in caves, since they used them for shelter and for painting and lived mostly in the open, so the picture is largely Victorian invention. The word is used now mainly as an insult about behaviour.
1nouncavemanA person of prehistoric times who lived in caves.
“The museum shows how a caveman made tools from stone and bone.”
caveman is a person.
Cave plus man, from the Victorian supposition that early people dwelt in caves.
From cave + man, based on the supposition that early humans dwelt in caves.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA