Cahuilla
Americannoun
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a member of a North American Indian people of southern California.
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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
The region is the ancestral homeland of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians and other tribes, who led the push for safeguarding the land.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2025
He swam in a sulfur spring, watched over by Cahuilla women scrubbing clothes on the rocks, and stretched out to dry himself in the sun.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
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 Jackson, Helen Hunt
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 Jackson, Helen Hunt
There was another Indian village nearer,—the village of the Cahuillas, on one of the high plateaus of San Jacinto.
From Ramona by Jackson, Helen Hunt
The Americans cry “Hurrah!” the Germans, “Hoch!” the Mexicans, “E viva!” and the Cahuillas howl for joy.
From Sielanka: An Idyll by Bullick, Thomas H.
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.
