Anasazi
[ ah-nuh-sah-zee ]
/ ˌɑ nəˈsɑ zi /
noun, plural A·na·sa·zis, (especially collectively) A·na·sa·zi for 2.
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.
a member of the people producing this culture.
adjective
of, relating to, or characteristic of this culture or its people: the Anasazi communities.
Origin of Anasazi
term introduced in 1936 by U.S. archaeologist Alfred V. Kidder (1885-1963) < Navajo
ʾanaasází ancient inhabitants of the Pueblo ruins, literally, aliens' ancestors ('
anaa- enemy, alien +
-sází ancestor(s), ancestral)