kiva

American  

[kee-vuh] / ˈki və /

noun

1. a large chamber, often wholly or partly underground, in a Pueblo Indian village, used for religious ceremonies and other purposes.

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kiva British  

/ ˈkiːvə /

noun

1. a large underground or partly underground room in a Pueblo Indian village, used chiefly for religious ceremonies

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Etymology

Origin of kiva

1870–75, < Hopi kíva ( ki- house + unidentified element)

Example Sentences

“I felt that if I didn’t help, I would have to resign as pastor,” Fife said recently in Southside’s worship hall, which was modeled after an indigenous ceremonial structure known as a kiva.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 8, 2021

It’s an art space, but it also felt, to me, like a holy one, reminiscent of a kiva.

From New York Times • Aug. 17, 2017

In one, a vandal used a rock saw to remove a petroglyph; in one this year someone dug up a pristine ceremonial chamber, or kiva, that had never been professionally excavated.

From Washington Post • Jun. 5, 2016

The discrepancies continued to accumulate; he lined a kiva with mortar stones even though it would have been dirt-walled originally.

From Slate • Jun. 12, 2015

They would go down, boys, into the kiva and come out again, men.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley