A·na·sa·zi

(ä′nə-sä′zē) Often Offensive

adj.

Ancestral Puebloan.

n. pl. Anasazi or A·na·sa·zis

An Ancestral Puebloan.

[Navajo anaasází, from anaa' bizází, enemy's ancestors : anaa', enemy + bizází, ancestors.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

A•na•sa•zi

(ˌɑ nəˈsɑ zi)

n., pl. -zis, (esp. collectively) -zi.

1. a Basket Maker–Pueblo culture of the plateau region of N Arizona and New Mexico and of S Utah and Colorado, dating probably from A.D. 100 to 1300.

2. a member of the people producing this culture.

[1936; < Navajo 'anaasází ancient inhabitants of the Pueblo ruins]

Anasazi

A member of a people who lived in what is now the southwestern United States until around AD 100 . The Anasazi were weavers and potters, and built cliff dwellings in canyons.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

Anasazi - a Native American who lived in what is now southern Colorado and Utah and northern Arizona and New Mexico and who built cliff dwellings

American Indian, Indian, Red Indian - a member of the race of people living in America when Europeans arrived

cliff dweller - a member of the Anasazi people living in the southwestern United States who built rock or adobe dwellings on ledges in the sides of caves

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References in periodicals archive

The tree ring data create a comprehensive history of drought conditions in the Southwest and Central Plains from about 1,000 years ago to 2005 and show a severely dry period in the 1100s, which may have contributed to the decline of ancient Pueblo peoples of the Colorado Plateau in the late 13th century.

Megadroughts predicted for U.S.: some states may see driest conditions in a millennium