Inuit
Americannoun
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a member of a group of Indigenous peoples inhabiting northernmost North America from northern Alaska to eastern Canada and Greenland.
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the language of the Inuit, a member of the Eskimo-Aleut family comprising a variety of dialects.
noun
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any of several Native peoples of N America or Greenland, as distinguished from those from Asia or the Aleutian Islands (who are still generally referred to as Eskimos); the preferred term for Eskimo in N America Compare Yupik
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the language of these peoples; Inuktitut
Sensitive Note
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Inuit
First recorded in 1755–65; from Inuit: literally, “people,” plural of inuk “person”
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He wants Greenland to leave the Kingdom of Denmark and enter into a form of free-association agreement with the U.S. that protects it militarily and recognizes the rights of its Inuit people.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Fieldwork and logistics were supported by multiple organizations in Nunavut, with permits granted by territorial authorities and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.
From Science Daily • Mar. 24, 2026
But the film doubles as a fascinating study of humans’ engagement with their environment, exploring not-always-predictable differences between the approach of the local Inuit population—hunters by tradition—and nonindigenous people with particular ideas about conservation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026
But her exposure to the Arctic territory began decades ago, she said, when she would hear Greenlandic Inuit songs as a child through her grandmother's shortwave radio.
From BBC • Feb. 6, 2026
He understood at once why the Inuit would think that polar bears were human beings in disguise.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
