precolonial

[ pree-kuh-loh-nee-uhl ]

adjective

1. of or relating to the time before a region or country became a colony.

Word History and Origins

Origin of precolonial¹

First recorded in 1960–65; pre- + colonial

Example Sentences

El Fasher, the former capital of the precolonial kingdom of Darfur, has about 1.8 million inhabitants, including hundreds of thousands who fled earlier waves of fighting.

From New York Times

Without action to restore these lands to something more closely resembling their precolonial conditions, many more sequoias will be lost, the experts fear.

From Los Angeles Times

The park, named by the late West Seattle philanthropist and park commissioner Ferdinand Schmitz for a precolonial Native American leader lionized by poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, has hardly been static.

From Seattle Times

But a growing number are now recognizing that for people in precolonial Mesoamerica, “ruins, ancient objects, and ancestors were active parts of their communities,” says Roberto Rosado-Ramirez, an archaeologist at Northwestern University.

From Science Magazine

Although Indigenous peoples have been participating in the agriculture sector since precolonial times, it hasn't been until recently that contemporary agriculture has become a policy focus for Indigenous community development and well-being.

From Salon