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anasazi

 - 2 dictionary results

A⋅na⋅sa⋅zi

[ah-nuh-sah-zee] noun, plural -zis, (especially collectively) -zi for 2.
1. a Basket Maker-Pueblo culture of the plateau region of northern Arizona and New Mexico and of southern Utah and Colorado, dating probably from a.d. 100 to 1300.
2. a member of the people producing this culture.
–adjective
3. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of this culture or its people: the Anasazi communities.

Origin:
term introduced in 1936 by U.S. archaeologist Alfred V. Kidder (1885-1963) < Navajo ʾanaasází ancient inhabitants of the Pueblo ruins, lit., aliens' ancestors ('anaa- enemy, alien + -sází ancestor(s), ancestral)
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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A·na·sa·zi   (ä'nə-sä'zē)   
n.   pl. Anasazi or A·na·sa·zis
  1. A Native American culture flourishing in southern Colorado and Utah and northern New Mexico and Arizona from about A.D. 100, whose descendants are considered to include the present-day Pueblo peoples. Anasazi culture includes an early Basket Maker phase and a later Pueblo phase marked by the construction of cliff dwellings and by expert artisanship in weaving and pottery.

  2. A member of a people sharing this culture.


[Navajo anaasází, from anaa' bizází, enemy's ancestors : anaa', enemy + bizází, ancestors.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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