chinampa
[chi-nam-puh]
- (in Mesoamerica) a long and narrow floating field on a shallow lake bed, artificially built up by layering soil, sediment, and decaying vegetation and used, especially by the Aztecs, to grow crops.
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Origin of chinampa
1830–40; < Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl < chinamitl area enclosed by canes + pa on
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for chinampa
Historical Examples
The keeper of the chinampa was there with great bundles of flowers.
The Fair GodLew Wallace
Viewed from a distance, the chinampa looked like an island of flowers.
The Fair GodLew Wallace
Do you recollect the dream I told you the night on the chinampa?
The Fair GodLew Wallace
Up in the northeastern part of the little sea lay a chinampa at anchor.
The Fair GodLew Wallace
Every chinampa forms an oblong square about three hundred feet in length, and eighteen or nineteen feet broad.
Travels in North America, From Modern WritersWilliam Bingley