Navajo

Or Nav·a·ho

[nav-uh-hoh, nah-vuh-]

noun

plural

Navajos, Navajoes ,

plural

Navajo .

1. Also called Diné. a member of the most populous nation of the southern division of Athabascan Native Americans, located in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, and now constituting the largest tribal group in the United States.

2. the Athabascan language of the Navajo.

adjective

1. Also of, relating to, or characteristic of the Navajo, their language, or their culture.

   a Navajo blanket.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Navajo¹

First recorded in 1800–10; from American Spanish Apaches de Nabajú “Apaches of Nabajú” (Navajo and several Apachean languages are mutually intelligible), originally a place name applied to the Largo Canyon region of the Four Corners area of northwest New Mexico, from Tewa navahu “large arroyo with cultivated fields”; Diné ( def. )

Example Sentences

The Defense Department purges images, biographies and histories that reference the Tuskegee Airmen, the Navajo code talkers and baseball legend Jackie Robinson.

From Salon

Approaching the age of 90, he reversed his decision a few years later - to appear in several episodes of Dark Winds, the story of two Navajo police officers who try to solve a double murder.

From BBC

There were Navajo rugs; custom, Western-style Monterey couches and chairs; and hundreds of books, including signed first-editions by Theodore Roosevelt, Helen Keller and Harry Houdini.

From Los Angeles Times

“There’s a lot at stake for Joe,” said McClarnon, whose Navajo police lieutenant contends with marital discord, childhood trauma and a pesky FBI investigation.

From Los Angeles Times

Now in its third season, “Dark Winds” follows Leaphorn and a couple of his current and former officers as they solve crimes and maintain order in the Navajo Nation.

From Los Angeles Times