precolonial

American  

[pree-kuh-loh-nee-uhl] / ˌpri kəˈloʊ ni əl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the time before a region or country became a colony.

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Etymology

Origin of precolonial

First recorded in 1960–65; pre- + colonial

Explanation

Use precolonial to describe anything that happened or existed before a powerful country moved into and took ownership of a region. Precolonial North America was inhabited by Native Americans. Everything changes once a region is colonized, and the time before colonization can be described as precolonial. Autonomous tribes existed across North America for centuries before European colonizers arrived on the continent, and that precolonial history includes large-scale agriculture, trade with foreign countries, and construction of towns and cities. Precolonial is from pre-, "before," and colonial, from the Latin colonia, "settled land."

Example Sentences

From precolonial Mexico we discover obsidian mirrors used for divination in Mayan and Aztec ceremonies.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

The paper hypothesizes that it is possible that manatees were not present at all in precolonial Florida and the tools and ornaments arrived here via Native Americans trading with those from the Caribbean.

From Science Daily • Nov. 20, 2024

While looking at the art, people can also enjoy a robust menu of precolonial dishes such as blue corn mush topped with wojapi, a vibrant berry sauce, and bison tacos.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 7, 2023

Even the white leopard’s presence in precolonial Indigenous art was a kind of prophecy of the world’s real possibilities: For them, the animal was mythical, while half a world away it was stalking the Himalayas.

From New York Times • Aug. 25, 2022

Indigenous communities regularly used fire in multiple ways that changed the precolonial North American landscape.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz