prehispanic

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adjective

Of or pertaining to the period of time before, or during the early part of the 16th century when Spanish explorers arrived and began to colonize the New World, e.g. Mesoamerica, South America, the Philippines, etc.

OriginEnglish Hispanic ← Middle English pre- ← Latin prae- →
Scrabble 20
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Meanings

adjectiveprehispanic (not comparable)
  1. not comparableOf or pertaining to the period of time before, or during the early part of the 16th century when Spanish explorers arrived and began to colonize the New World, e.g. Mesoamerica, South America, the Philippines, etc.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
  4. Proto-Italic*prai
  5. Proto-Italic*prai-
  6. Latinprae-
  7. Middle Englishpre-
  8. Englishpre-
  9. EnglishHispanic
  10. Englishprehispanic

From pre- + Hispanic.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

prehispanic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prehispanic

MLA

“prehispanic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prehispanic. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prehispanic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prehispanic.

Source: prehispanic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.