Salish

[ sey-lish ]

noun
  1. a member of any of various North American Indian peoples speaking a Salishan language.

  2. Also called Mon·tan·a Sa·lish [mon-tan-uh-sey-lish], /mɒnˈtæn ə ˈseɪ lɪʃ/, Sé·liš [sel-ish] /ˈsɛl ɪʃ/ . an Interior Salish language of Montana and Washington spoken by the Flathead, Spokane, and Kalispel peoples.

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Salishan languages or their speakers.

Origin of Salish

1
First recorded in 1840–50; from Southern Interior Salish séʔliš literally, Flathead1, a self-designation

Words Nearby Salish

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Salish in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Salish

Salish

Salishan (ˈseɪlɪʃən, ˈsæl-)

/ (ˈseɪlɪʃ) /


noun
  1. a family of North American Indian languages spoken in the northwestern US and W Canada

  2. the Salish (functioning as plural) the peoples collectively who speak these languages, divided in Canada into the Coast Salish and the Interior Salish

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012