Navajo

noun

Na·​va·​jo ˈna-və-ˌhō  ˈnä- 

variants or less commonly Navaho

1

plural Navajo or Navajos also Navaho or Navahos : a member of an Indigenous people of northern New Mexico and Arizona and southern Utah

2

: the language of the Navajo people

Examples of Navajo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Thornburg also allegedly confessed to murdering his roommate Mark Jewell in May 2021 and his girlfriend Tanya Begay, a Navajo woman from Gallup, New Mexico, in Arizona in 2017. —Lauren De Young, The Arizona Republic, 6 Dec. 2024

For over a century, natural resources like oil, coal, and uranium extracted from Navajo land have powered the American West, yet approximately one-third of the Navajo Nation, roughly 13,500 families, live without power. —Jen Murphy, Outside Online, 3 Dec. 2024

Most of his 11 siblings in the Navajo Nation create art as their primary income. —Debra Utacia Krol, USA TODAY, 3 Dec. 2024

If Congress approves the settlement and it’s signed into law, the Navajo, Hopi and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes would benefit, per the Arizona Republic’s Arlyssa D. Becenti. —Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Spanish (Apache de) Navajó, literally, Apache of Navajó, from Navajó, area occupied by Navajos, probably from Tewa (Pueblo Indian language of northern New Mexico) navahu·, literally, arroyo with planted fields

First Known Use

1808, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

Navajo

noun

Na·​va·​jo

variants also Navaho

ˈnav-ə-ˌhō  ˈnäv- 

plural Navajo or Navajos also Navaho or Navahos

: a member of an Indigenous people of northern New Mexico and Arizona