Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or originating in the Americas before the arrival of Columbus.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Referring to the cultures of the American continent before the European influence, specifically to the era before the continent was visited by Christopher Columbus.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • CACIQUE Term is still used in Haiti to refer to the pre-Columbian Amerindian rulers and divisions of the country.

    The Serpent and the Rainbow Wade Davis 1985

  • Madera is a mecca for the state's estimated 120,000 indigenous Mexican-Indian farm workers, many of whom are from Oaxaca and speak a pre-Columbian language called Mixtec.

    NYT > Home Page By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN 2011

  • Madera is a mecca for the state's estimated 120,000 indigenous Mexican-Indian farm workers, many of whom are from Oaxaca and speak a pre-Columbian language called Mixtec.

    NYT > Home Page By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN 2011

  • They met in Mexico City, where she was the daughter of a prominent expatriate American banker and he was a hotshot archaeologist working on pre-Columbian Aztec digs.

    What Makes Us Happy? 2009

  • One place we have found our visitors to enjoy very much is Huachimontones, which is a pre-Columbian archeological site near the town of Teuchitlan, about 40 minutes west of Guadalajara (on the map you would go west toward Tequila and then left toward Ameca).

    Side trips out of Guadalajara 2010

  • A pair of deep, flat-bottomed holes have been chiseled out of the red clay of eastern Georgia in the U.S., like twin sports arenas from the pre-Columbian era.

    Southern Co's Nuclear Gambit Jonathan Fahey 2010

  • A pair of deep, flat-bottomed holes have been chiseled out of the red clay of eastern Georgia in the U.S., like twin sports arenas from the pre-Columbian era.

    Southern Co's Nuclear Gambit Jonathan Fahey 2010

  • Once it was hers, she began buying books about pre-Columbian gold.

    A Collector's Journey of a Lifetime Paula Weideger 2011

  • The Phillips is not only smaller, but it also has a very narrow focus; namely, a devotion to modern art rarely seen in larger museums where one might see Egyptian, European and pre-Columbian art, all under one roof.

    Fire-Damaged Museum Reopens in Time for 90th Birthday 2011

  • The Phillips is not only smaller, but it also has a very narrow focus; namely, a devotion to modern art rarely seen in larger museums where one might see Egyptian, European and pre-Columbian art, all under one roof.

    Fire-Damaged Museum Reopens in Time for 90th Birthday 2011

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