I. p(y)üˈe(ˌ)blō, ˈpwe(ˌ)- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Spanish, people, village, from Latin populus people — more at people
1.
a. : a Latin-American community ; especially : an Indian town or village
typical street in a pueblo of northwestern Venezuela — W.E.Rudolph
b. : a town founded by Mexican Spanish settlers in the southwestern United States especially in California
it was founded as San Jose de Guadalupe … the first pueblo to be established in Alta California — Aubrey Drury
2.
a. : the communal dwelling of an Indian village of Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent parts of Mexico and Texas typical of the Anasazi culture and consisting of contiguous flat-roofed stone or adobe houses in groups sometimes several stories high and built in receding terraces with access to the lowest story originally only by trap doors in the roof which was reached by ladders that could be drawn up for defense
b. : an Indian village of the southwestern U.S.
all pueblos have their religious societies, priests, warriors, medicine men and women — American Guide Series: New Mexico
many members of modern pueblos are abandoning the imposing citadels of their ancestors in favor of individual housing
3. usually capitalized
a. : a group of Indian peoples of Arizona and New Mexico
b. : a member of any of such peoples
4. usually capitalized : the languages spoken by the Pueblo peoples comprising the Keresan, Shoshonean, Tanoan, and Zuñian language families
II. adjective
Usage: usually capitalized
1. : of or relating to a culture of the plateau area of the southwestern United States following and forming one cultural development with the Basket Maker, developing in five stages, and characterized in its earliest stage by true masonry buildings and loom weaving and at its zenith by fine masonry, large communal towns, and buildings set under overhanging cliffs or in the open — see anasazi , developmental pueblo , great pueblo
2. : of, relating to, or imitating the decorative and architectural style of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico