Inuit

American  

[in-oo-it, -yoo-] / ˈɪn u ɪt, -yu- /

Or Innuit

noun

plural

Inuits,

plural

Inuit

1. a member of a group of Indigenous peoples inhabiting northernmost North America from northern Alaska to eastern Canada and Greenland.

2. the language of the Inuit, a member of the Eskimo-Aleut family comprising a variety of dialects.

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Inuit British  

/ ˈɪnjuːɪt /

noun

1. any of several Native peoples of N America or Greenland, as distinguished from those from Asia or the Aleutian Islands (who are still generally referred to as Eskimos); the preferred term for Eskimo in N America Compare Yupik

2. the language of these peoples; Inuktitut

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Sensitive Note

See Eskimo, Indian.

Etymology

Origin of Inuit

First recorded in 1755–65; from Inuit: literally, “people,” plural of inuk “person”

Compare meaning

How does inuit compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Eskimo vs. Inuit

Example Sentences

"My hope is for our country to be independent and well-managed and not be bought," said Inuit writer and musician, Sivnîssoq Rask.

From BBC

Smilla’s father is Danish and her mother is from the Inuit people indigenous to Greenland.

From The Wall Street Journal

His travels include encounters with Inuit people, snow blindness and a stinging need for solitude that leads him to abandon his family for a life in the Arctic trading post.

From Los Angeles Times

One evening I retired to my cabin with assurances that we would reach our destination, the small Inuit hamlet of Arctic Bay, early the next morning.

From The Wall Street Journal

For Kamookak, a vital part of that search was comparing Inuit stories with the logbooks and journals written by the many explorers who had gone looking for Franklin.

From Literature