pre-Columbian
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of pre-Columbian
First recorded in 1885–90
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.
A case in point is the Inca Road, arguably the greatest infrastructure accomplishment of pre-Columbian times.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
The terrain is difficult enough and inaccessible enough that it likely would not have been utilized even by pre-Columbian peoples, certainly not in a permanent way.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2025
"The whistles have a very unique construction, and we don't know of any comparable musical instrument from other pre-Columbian cultures or from other historical and contemporary contexts," says Frühholz.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 19, 2024
A wooden bookcase piled with works of pre-Columbian history, archaeology and artist catalogs sags in the middle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2024
“That is a pre-Columbian burial figure. It was made in Mexico about two thousand years ago.”
From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
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.
