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

Adam Johnson conjures the watery world of the precolonial Tuʻitonga empire in this fictional saga of sovereigns, warriors, celestial navigators and plucky commoners.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 3, 2025

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

Without action to restore these lands to something more closely resembling their precolonial conditions, many more sequoias will be lost, the experts fear.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 1, 2023

This brief overview of precolonial North America counteracts the settler-colonial myth of the wandering Neolithic hunter and vast unused and uncharted lands.

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