-
pueblo
pueblonouna communal structure for multiple dwelling and defensive purposes of certain agricultural Indians of the southwestern United States: built of adobe or stone, typically many-storied and terraced, the structures were often placed against cliff walls, with entry through the roof by ladder.
-
Pueblo
Pueblonouna city in central Colorado.
pueblo
1 Americannoun
-
pueblos
plural
-
a communal structure for multiple dwelling and defensive purposes of certain agricultural Indians of the southwestern United States: built of adobe or stone, typically many-storied and terraced, the structures were often placed against cliff walls, with entry through the roof by ladder.
-
(initial capital letter) a member of a group of Indian peoples living in pueblo villages in New Mexico and Arizona since prehistoric times.
-
an Indian village.
-
(in Spanish America) a town or village.
-
(in the Philippines) a town or a township.
noun
noun
-
a communal village, built by certain Indians of the southwestern US and parts of Latin America, consisting of one or more flat-roofed stone or adobe houses
-
(in Spanish America) a village or town
-
(in the Philippines) a town or township
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pueblo
An Americanism dating back to 1800–10; from Colonial Spanish; Spanish: “town,” from Latin populus “community, people, nation”; cf. people ( def. )
Explanation
If your home is in a pueblo, you probably live in the southwestern part of the United States, in a community of adobe houses. This noun of Spanish origin refers to a structure and institution of Native American origin: a communal village consisting of contiguous, multistory flat-roofed houses. Spanish explorers of the American Southwest were the first to use the word pueblo. The ultimate root, populus, is Latin and is related to population and people. Today, the state of New Mexico is home to the greatest number of pueblos still in use.
Vocabulary lists containing pueblo
Native American History - Introductory
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Native American History - Middle School and High School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Chapter 1: The First Americans
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
To this day, cities like L.A. retain water rights from those pueblo days.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Instead they encountered Hawikku, an adobe pueblo in what is now western New Mexico.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
Hackman and Arakawa “were not interested in re-creating native pueblo architecture,” he added.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 19, 2026
Lopez, who’s also the co-owner of the Guelaguetza in Koreatown that his parents opened in 1994, says attending “First Fridays” feels like being in a pueblo or small town in Mexico.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2024
Some hunters from Malpais had found her and brought her to the pueblo.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
![]()
A member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, she had served as the secretary of the interior under former president Joe Biden, the first Native American to serve as a US cabinet secretary.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
It certainly wasn’t assured by 1680, the year of the Pueblo Revolt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
For a counternarrative, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, founded by New Mexico’s 19 Pueblos, and Acoma Sky City, considered the longest continuously inhabited community in North America, offer Indigenous history on Indigenous terms.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
The North American portfolio centers around Barrick’s majority owned Nevada gold venture with Newmont, the wholly-owned Fourmile discovery in Nevada, and the Pueblo Viejo mine in Dominican Republic that is minority owned by Newmont.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
She was from Ohkay Owingeh, one of the Pueblo nations in the Southwest.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
![]()
Living in New Mexico, enthralled by its unique light, she painted pueblos, churches and her house at Ghost Ranch, where she spent many summers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
After Coronado recuperated, he marched east until the Spaniards encountered 12 Tiwa pueblos near present-day Albuquerque, N.M.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
This is a solo inspired by rituals that Graham observed in the pueblos of the American Southwest, specifically, the kachina figures that served as comic relief at religious ceremonies.
From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 2024
“Every single time that I go to Oaxaca and I go out of the city and go to the pueblos, you see more fields of agave replacing the trees,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
A bird’s-eye view of ten or a dozen of the principal pueblos, then a landing for lunch in the valley of Malpais.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
![]()
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.