Wa·ri or Hua·ri (wä?r?)n. A pre-Incan empire with links to the contemporaneous civilization at Tiahuanaco, developing around the 10th century in the Peruvian highlands and spreading to encompass more than half of modern-day Peru before collapsing around 1200.[After Huari, the type archaeological site of Wari culture, located in south-central Peru.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.