Chiricahua

American  

[chir-i-kah-wuh] / ˌtʃɪr ɪˈkɑ wə /

noun

Chiricahuas, plural Chiricahua plural

1. a member of an Apache group that comprises several Apache bands, formerly located in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, now living primarily in Oklahoma and New Mexico.

2. the Athabascan language of the Chiricahua, differing only dialectically from Navaho.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Chiricahua
  plural
• Chiricahuas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Chiricahua

First recorded in 1885–90; via Spanish from Opata (extinct Uto-Aztecan language of Sonora) Chihuicahui or Chiguicagui “Mountain of the Wild Turkey” (now the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona)

Example Sentences

Moffett, who studies the social behavior of ants and other animals, noticed the interaction while visiting a research station in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains.

From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026

Another, named Sombra, was also spotted in Arizona’s Chiricahua Mountains later that year.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2024

The family is Chiricahua Apache and Oak Flat, or Chi’chil Bildagoteel, is a consecrated place used for prayer and ritual by them and many other Native Americans in the region.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 28, 2023

Posted outside Cave Creek Ranch in the Chiricahua Mountains, about 150 miles southeast of Tucson, a schedule of the expected arrival dates of migrating and seasonal birds anticipated the elegant trogon on April 6.

From New York Times • Jun. 15, 2021

They would whisk along the long, shimmering highway to El Patrons other house in the Chiricahua Mountains.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer