Mesoamerican
- noun
- /ˌmɛzoʊəˈmɛrɪkən/
- Many Mesoamericans engaged in agriculture, cultivating crops like maize and beans.
- ancient Mesoamericans
Examples
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Jade was prized by Mesoamericans as far back as 3,500 years ago.
Academic text (1992) -
Mesoamericans also cultivated raised fields in wetlands, terraced sloped lands, and practiced slash-and-burn shifting cultivation on forested lands.
Academic text (1995) -
All the technology used by ancient Mesoamericans was developed indigenously.
Academic text (1995) -
However, ancient Mesoamericans did develop and use dams.
Academic text (1995) -
Mesoamericans seem to have grasped certain concepts very well and very early, but others not at all.
Academic text (1995) -
Only later did Mesoamericans discover that the seeds, fermented along with the pulp, could be used as the basis of chocolate drinks.
Academic text (2010) -
Although ancient Mesoamericans did not develop certain aspects of canal-irrigation technology, they did remarkably well with aqueducts, an accomplishment that is rarely recognized.
Academic text (1995) -
For example, the ancient Mesoamericans were accomplished stonemasons who cut, fitted, and mortared stones for buildings, but they never applied the technology to irrigation dams.
Academic text (1995) -
The ancient Mesoamericans created impressive pyramids that still amaze visitors today.
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Artifacts from ancient Mesoamericans reveal a deep understanding of astronomy and mathematics.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Mesoamerican = Mesoamerica (transparent) = meso + america + an
The demonym/person sense is a regular derivation from the place-name 'Mesoamerica' with '-an' and is easily predictable for learners familiar with the place-name.
Etymology
Mesoamerican comes from meso- meaning 'middle' and America, so a Mesoamerican is a person from 'middle America', meaning the native people and cultures of central Mexico and nearby countries.