Paleobiolinguis cs is used to determine when and where the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) developed significance for prehistoric groups of Na ve America. Dates and loca ons of proto‐languages for which common bean terms reconstruct generally accord with crop‐origin and dispersal informa on from plant gene cs and archaeobotany. Paleobiolinguis c and other lines of evidence indicate that human interest in the common bean became significant primarily with the widespread development of a village‐farming way of life in the New World rather than earlier when squash and maize and a few other crops became important.