Navajo

American  

[nav-uh-hoh, nah-vuh-] / ˈnæv əˌhoʊ, ˈnɑ və- /

Or Navaho

noun

plural

Navajos, Navajoes,

plural

Navajo

1. Also called Diné.  a member of the most populous nation of the southern division of Athabascan Native Americans, located in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, and now constituting the largest tribal group in the United States.

2. the Athabascan language of the Navajo.

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adjective

1. Also of, relating to, or characteristic of the Navajo, their language, or their culture.

   a Navajo blanket.

Etymology

Origin of Navajo

First recorded in 1800–10; from American Spanish Apaches de Nabajú “Apaches of Nabajú” (Navajo and several Apachean languages are mutually intelligible), originally a place name applied to the Largo Canyon region of the Four Corners area of northwest New Mexico, from Tewa navahu “large arroyo with cultivated fields”; Diné ( def. )

Example Sentences

A pre-trial conference and release hearing is scheduled for March 17 in Navajo County.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2025

“We will notify everybody... once he is secured back in Navajo County jail.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 29, 2025

Ernie Stevens Sr. was also revered in Indian country, with leadership roles in places like Oneida, Navajo Nation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025

Blanchard’s helpline had also handled calls from the Navajo Nation, whose territory stretches across the New Mexico and Arizona border.

From Barron's • Oct. 31, 2025

Through it all our Navajo code was used to send and receive messages.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac