Mesoamerica
Americannoun
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Anthropology, Archaeology. the area extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua in which diverse pre-Columbian civilizations flourished.
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(loosely) Central America.
noun
Other Word Forms
- Mesoamerican adjective
Etymology
Origin of Mesoamerica
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Until now it was thought that writing developed in Mesopotamia around 3,000 BCE, followed by hieroglyphics in Egypt and later in China and Mesoamerica.
From BBC • Feb. 26, 2026
Mr. Darnielle’s happy place, clearly, is among the ancient Greeks and the gods of Mesoamerica.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025
One is a giant monoculture Iowa farm, and the other is the milpa, this polyculture system that was the way corn was grown during its rise in Mesoamerica.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 18, 2024
Avocados have been a part of the Mexican diet since ancient Mesoamerica, but the Hass – the most popular variety worldwide today – was bred in modern California.
From Salon • May 29, 2024
In contrast, the New World presents many cases of equivalent and closely related, but nevertheless distinct, species having been domesticated in Mesoamerica and South America.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
