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• mesa
  mesa

  noun

  a land formation, less extensive than a plateau, having steep walls and a relatively flat top and common in arid and semiarid parts of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico.
• Mesa
  Mesa

  noun

  a city in central Arizona, near Phoenix.

mesa

¹ American  

[mey-suh] / ˈmeɪ sə /

noun

• mesas
  plural

1. a land formation, less extensive than a plateau, having steep walls and a relatively flat top and common in arid and semiarid parts of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico.

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Mesa ² American  

[mey-suh] / ˈmeɪ sə /

noun

1. a city in central Arizona, near Phoenix.

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mesa British  

/ ˈmeɪsə /

noun

1. a flat tableland with steep edges, common in the southwestern US

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mesa Scientific  

/ mā′sə /

1. An area of high land with a flat top and two or more steep, clifflike sides. Mesas are larger than buttes and smaller than plateaus, and are common in the southwest United States.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mesas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mesa

1750–60, < Spanish: table < Latin mēnsa

Explanation

A mesa is a flat-topped hill most commonly found in the Southwest part of the U.S.. Its sides are steep all around so that it looks like a massive table. Mesa comes from the Latin mensa meaning "table," which is very much what a mesa looks like. A mesa is formed when the weaker horizontal rocks around a big formation start to erode and fall away, leaving stronger rocks standing in a flat-topped hill. Grand Mesa in Western Colorado is the largest mesa in the world, with an area of 500 square miles. That's bigger than all of Hong Kong!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mesa Mesa mesas

Under the veil of the Manhattan Project, this remote mesa became the site of a profound scientific pivot that ended a world war and ushered in the nuclear age.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

If it is not already part of a dish, the obligatory salsa de mesa stands by to add zing and heat.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 15, 2024

Claudia Mitchell, a potter from Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, gathers clay on a mesa between two sandstone rock formations, hammer and pick at the ready.

From New York Times ● Aug. 13, 2023

Later, higher-resolution photographs with fewer shadows showed a pretty plain mesa.

From Scientific American ● May 17, 2023

On an Arizona highway, a two-car caravan is flashing across sagebrush country—the mesa country of hawks and rattlesnakes and towering red rocks.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

Anduril Industries, a military technology company based in Costa Mesa, approached the San José-based air taxi venture Archer Aviation two years ago with a concept for a dual-use, self-flying rotorcraft.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

“It seems the more State Farm tries, the more work it creates for the agent’s office,” said Tom Duffy, a recently retired agent in Mesa, Ariz., who responded to our article.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

In March, a quarantine was placed over La Mesa after multiple Mexican fruit flies were found.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

The county is also undertaking efforts to reduce vegetation on untamed land beyond the suburban streets of Altadena and Sunset Mesa.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

Enchanted Mesa was a dark silvered shadow rising up from the valley into the sky.

From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko

Washington, Utah, located just southwest of Zion National Park, is surrounded by cinematic mesas and has long been a hub for exploring the natural wonders of the American west.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2025

In Taos, Zappa has found a measure of solace in the stark beauty of its mesas and snow-capped mountains.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2024

My roughly 60-mile section was marked by sienna-hued mesas and buttes, and cornflower-blue skies.

From New York Times ● May 1, 2024

The central summit area is marked by several elevated mesas forming an arc, reaching a regional high and sloping downhill away from the summit area.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2024

They had seen him and they were scattering between juniper trees, through tall yellow grass, below the mesas near the dripping spring.

From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko