ANTEDILUVIAN*

Name given to the whole period before the Flood of Noah’s time. The adjective, which literally means “before the flood [deluge],” designates a major epoch in biblical history. The noun “antediluvians” refers to the people who lived in that time. Toward the end of the antediluvian period, society was characterized by great corruption that according to the Bible led to its God-ordained destruction by the Flood. See Flood, The.