Ancestral Puebloan

noun

variants or less commonly ancestral Puebloan

plural Ancestral Puebloans also ancestral Puebloans

see usage paragraph below

: a member of a group of prehistoric Indigenous peoples of the canyons of northern Arizona and New Mexico and southwestern Colorado : a member of the Ancestral Pueblo peoples

called also Anasazi

Usage of Anasazi, Ancestral Pueblo, and Ancestral Puebloan

The English word Anasazi comes from a Navajo word meaning "enemy ancestors." Due to this association, Anasazi is now often considered an inappropriate or disrespectful name for a member of these prehistoric peoples or (when used in the plural) for the peoples referred to as a group. The terms Ancestral Pueblo and Ancestral Puebloan are often used as alternative names for the peoples and for an individual member of these peoples, respectively.

Examples of Ancestral Puebloan in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Next up on the Reddit list, Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, a park that’s best known for its Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, including the Cliff Palace, which visitors can walk inside. —Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 26 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1994, in the meaning defined above