The Old World refers to the parts of Earth that people in Europe, Asia, and Africa knew about before 1492, when Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. For thousands of years, civilizations in Europe, Asia, and Africa traded goods, exchanged ideas, and knew of each other's existence, but they had no idea that the Americas existed.

When European explorers reached the Americas, they called these lands the New World because the continents were new to them (though millions of people already lived there and had their own ancient civilizations). By contrast, Europe, Asia, and Africa became known as the Old World: the parts of the planet that Europeans had known about since ancient times.

Today, people still use Old World to describe things from Europe, Asia, or Africa, especially when contrasting them with things from the Americas. You might hear about Old World wine from France or Italy, or Old World monkeys from Africa and Asia (as opposed to New World monkeys from South America). The term captures that sense of ancient history and long tradition, like walking through a medieval European castle compared to visiting a building from colonial-era America.