How to Use pre-Columbian in a Sentence

pre-Columbian

adjective
  • There’s a pre-Columbian puppet-like figurine on display.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 24 Feb. 2026
  • The resin works symbolize our pre-Columbian origins through their designs, while also reflecting our present.
    — Gabriela Molina Riascos, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2025
  • Corn is not only a staple food, but also a precious element in pre-Columbian rites that endures today.
    — Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2025
  • Many of these coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) are over 300 feet tall and have been alive since pre-Columbian times.
    — Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2023
  • The spools frame her mask-like open mouth, decorating voids in the human skull that signaled the soul’s vivacity in pre-Columbian culture.
    — Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2024
  • Cacao was used by the pre-Columbian populations of the Maya and Aztecs, who venerated it as a sacred food.
    — Alessandra Signorelli, Vogue, 19 Nov. 2024
  • The pre-Columbian mound complexes scattered across North America met a similar fate.
    — Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
  • But the roots of Día de los Muertos go back thousands of years to rituals that honor the dead in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
    — Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Oct. 2023
  • The authors hope this analysis gives further insight into the lives of pre-Columbian people of the Americas.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 11 Oct. 2023
  • Zúñiga introduced her to pre-Columbian ceramic techniques and woodcarving.
    — Shameekia Shantel Johnson, ARTnews.com, 4 Nov. 2024
  • Effigy Mounds preserves 200 or so prehistoric earthworks that were built by pre-Columbian people.
    — Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 19 Feb. 2025
  • With the aroma of copal (the iconic pre-Columbian incense of choice in Tulum) permeating the space, the restaurant is warm and inviting.
    — Jamie Ditaranto, Travel + Leisure, 15 Apr. 2023
  • With roots dating back to pre-Columbian civilizations in Mexico, they were kept as companions and even thought to guide souls in the afterlife.
    — Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
  • For many years, Nashville’s Parthenon museum housed hundreds of pre-Columbian artifacts in its collections.
    — Ella Feldman, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 July 2024
  • The troupe’s performances feature music, dance and costumes spanning pre-Columbian civilizations to today.
    — Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2025
  • Their quest becomes more difficult every year, however, as the remains of pre-Columbian trees slough back into the earth or are dug up to make way for agriculture and construction.
    — M. R. O’Connor, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • History of Chia Seeds Chia seeds have their origin in pre-Columbian indigenous populations.
    — María Quiles, Glamour, 21 Mar. 2024
  • Concentric circular trenches, some as much as 60 feet deep, had been carved into the volcanic rock of the mountaintop, bringing to mind a pre-Columbian earthwork.
    — Dennis Overbye Marcos Zegers, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2023
  • The ancestral beverage has deep roots in Indigenous Ecuadorian culture, dating back to the pre-Columbian era.
    — Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Dec. 2023
  • Both a social activity and a caffeine-fix, mate dates back to pre-Columbian times, when the leaves were hand-picked in the same manner as Lemos has been doing for the past 30 years.
    — Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, 1 Feb. 2024
  • The home of the Mexico City Diablos Rojos rises from the ground like a pre-Columbian pyramid.
    — Ryan Finley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026
  • Jose Vera Gonzalez shows off one of his paintings inspired by the Parthenon's collection of pre-Columbian artifacts.
    — Natalie Kainz, NBC News, 24 July 2024
  • His ceramic pieces — inspired by pre-Columbian mythology and the Mexican landscape — are a prominent feature within the show.
    — Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2023
  • Beginning in pre-Columbian America, Native peoples have ground the tree’s acorns into meal and knew its strong roots could be counted on during disasters.
    — Shannon Sims, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Teotihuacán, an ancient pre-Columbian city, is one of Mexico's most popular tourist attractions, drawing millions of visitors each year.
    — Ben Brachfeld, PEOPLE, 20 Apr. 2026
  • Ergo pre-Columbian people must have achieved flight, millennia before Orville and Wilbur Wright, with help from extraterrestrials.
    — Discover Magazine, 4 Dec. 2023
  • For visitors, the structures demonstrate a living version of pre-Columbian engineering that’s far more accessible than the Inca citadel to the north.
    — Tim Brinkhof, Discover Magazine, 12 Nov. 2023
  • The parts of the chairs that someone would be in contact with (like the seat, back, and armrests) are made smooth to the touch using a pre-Columbian technique of burnishing, which involves rubbing the surface with a stone to seal it.
    — Curbed, 5 June 2023
  • In the Americas, carnivals present elements rooted in pre-Columbian or African traditions.
    — Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025
  • Each space is accented by the artists’ collections of African art, Mexican folk art and textiles, pre-Columbian pieces, contemporary art and ceramics, and their own work.
    — Michael Wollaeger, ELLE Decor, 15 Feb. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pre-Columbian.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: