Ang katawagang [[wikang Ingles|Ingles]] na "[[wikt:Paleolithic|''Palaeolithic'']]" ay nilikha ng [[arkeolohiya|arkeologong]] si John Lubbock noong 1865.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lubbock |first=John |author-link=John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury |orig-year=1872 |year=2005 |title=Pre-Historic Times, as Illustrated by Ancient Remains, and the Manners and Customs of Modern Savages |publisher=Williams and Norgate |page=75 |via=Elibron Classics |chapter=4 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t7vm4dg4c;view=1up;seq=87 |isbn=978-1421270395|language=Ingles}}</ref> Hinango ito mula sa [[wikang Griyego|Griyegong]] salita: [[wikt:παλαιός|παλαιός]], ''palaios'', "luma"; at [[wikt:λίθος|λίθος]], ''lithos'', "bato", nangangahulgang "lumang [[Panahon ng Bato|panahon ng bato]]."
