Sioux

[ soo ]

noun,plural Sioux

[soo, sooz]. /su, suz/.

Dakota (defs. 4, 6).

Origin of Sioux

An Americanism dating back to 1755–65; from North American French, shortening of earlier Nadouessioux from Ojibwe (Ottawa dialect) na·towe·ssiw(ak) (plural), from unattested Proto-Algonquian na·towe·hsiw-, derivative of unattested na·towe·wa ”Iroquoian,” probably literally, “speaker of a foreign language”) + French -x plural marker

Words Nearby Sioux

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Sioux in a sentence

As the bill failed in the Senate, a pigtailed member of the Lakota Sioux tribe stood up in the gallery and began chanting.
Keystone Senate Failure Is Environmental Kabuki Theater | Ben Jacobs | November 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
A libertarian is willing to hear anti-immigration arguments – from a Sioux Indian.
Up To A Point: My Problem With People Who Agree With Me | P. J. O’Rourke | July 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
A non-Sioux nation in the state, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, also said no.
The Native Americans Who Voted for ‘The Fighting Sioux’ | Evan Weiner | June 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Her songs range from mach-10 electro-pop, as on the track “SuperLove,” to a more punk-pop sound, a la Siouxsie Sioux or Blondie.
SXSW Breakout Musical Acts: London Grammar, Chance the Rapper, Jungle, and More | Marlow Stern | March 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
“With all due respect, America was not made great by rich people,” she said at a campaign stop in Sioux City in 2008.
Hillary Clinton’s Own Populist Path | Andrei Cherny | December 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

The Sioux believed that if either men or horses were approaching the ponies would have called.
Three Sioux Scouts | Elmer Russell Gregor
Aware that the Sioux were distancing them, the Pawnee hunters were shouting encouragement to their tribesmen.
Three Sioux Scouts | Elmer Russell Gregor
She had seen somewhere a photograph of a Sioux chief whose austere countenance was very like the minister's.
A Hoosier Chronicle | Meredith Nicholson
The Sioux were within several arrow flights of their goal, however, and their hopes grew stronger.
Three Sioux Scouts | Elmer Russell Gregor
Aware that the Sioux had suddenly gained the advantage, the Pawnees were cautious about exposing themselves.
Three Sioux Scouts | Elmer Russell Gregor

British Dictionary definitions for Sioux

Sioux

/ (suː) /

noun

plural Sioux (suː, suːz) a member of a group of North American Indian peoples formerly ranging over a wide area of the Plains from Lake Michigan to the Rocky Mountains
any of the Siouan languages

Origin of Sioux

from French, shortened from Nadowessioux, from Chippewa Nadoweisiw

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

Cultural definitions for Sioux

Sioux

[ (sooh) ]

A common name for the Dakota people, a tribe of Native Americans inhabiting the northern Great Plains in the nineteenth century. They were famed as warriors and frequently took up arms in the late nineteenth century to oppose the settlement of their hunting grounds and sacred places. In 1876, Sioux warriors, led by Chief Sitting Bull, and commanded in the field by Chief Crazy Horse, overwhelmed the United States cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. (See Custer's last stand.) A group of Sioux under Chief Big Foot were massacred by United States troops at Wounded Knee in 1890.

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