Cahuilla
Americannoun
-
Cahuillas,
plural
-
Cahuilla
plural
-
a member of a North American Indian people of southern California.
-
Also called Ivilyuat. the Uto-Aztecan language of the Cahuilla.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Cahuilla
First recorded in 1895–1900; from Spanish, possibly from Cahuilla kawi'a “master”
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.
See Examples For:
For example, her research into Southern California’s Kumeyaay and Cahuilla Indigenous tribes inspired a series of large jars patterned after ollas, traditional pots used for water and seed storage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2026
Tongva, Chumash and Cahuilla workers in California formed the backbone of rancho agriculture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
Becerra’s campaign has $2 million on hand, including the largest contributions allowed by law — $39,200 — from the politically connected Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and Pechanga Band of Indians.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2025
Backers led by the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians and other tribes also want neighboring Joshua Tree National Park expanded by nearly 18,000 acres.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2024
On the invitation of a friend, he went to stay at a cabin on the Cahuilla Indian Reservation, in southern California’s high desert.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
He declared that the Cahuillas would surely come and murder him in the night, and begged piteously that the men would all stay with him to guard him.
From Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson
To the simple Cahuillas it seemed like a miracle; and they looked on Aunt Ri's weather-beaten face with something akin to a superstitious reverence.
From Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson
The Americans cry “Hurrah!” the Germans, “Hoch!” the Mexicans, “E viva!” and the Cahuillas howl for joy.
From Sielanka: An Idyll by Thomas H. Bullick
There was another Indian village nearer,—the village of the Cahuillas, on one of the high plateaus of San Jacinto.
From Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson
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.
