Inuit
or In·nu·it
[in-oo-it, -yoo-]
- a member of the Eskimo peoples inhabiting northernmost North America from northern Alaska to eastern Canada and Greenland.
- the language of the Inuit, a member of the Eskimo-Aleut family comprising a variety of dialects.
Show More
Origin of Inuit
1755–65; < Inuit: people, plural of inuk person
Also called Inupik.
Usage note
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for inuit
Contemporary Examples
Discovered frozen in ice by two Inuit waterbenders, they begin a journey to help him access his full powers as avatar.
‘Game of Thrones’ Withdrawal? Watch Nickelodeon’s Fantasy Epic ‘The Legend of Korra’David Levesley
July 1, 2014
The commenter said Dodson is not a full-blooded member of any tribe and is in fact one-quarter Aleut, not Inuit.
Not that Western civilization has never embraced the mythical Inuit practice of leaving the old out on an ice floe.
Historical Examples
She wept about it, and begged the Inuit to help her get him back.
A Treasury of Eskimo TalesClara Kern Bayliss
When the Inuit saw this they cried, "Itajung, your wife is flying away."
A Treasury of Eskimo TalesClara Kern Bayliss
Here is the stone the Inuit uses for pots—what you call soapstone.
Adrift in the Ice-FieldsCharles W. Hall
When the Inuit saw this they called out, Ititaujang, your wife is flying away.
The Central EskimoFranz Boas
His jacket has an enormous hood, which is an object of fear to the Inuit.
The Central EskimoFranz Boas
Inuit
Innuit
- 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 AmericaCompare Yupik
- the language of these peoples; Inuktitut
Show More
Word Origin
from Inuktitut inuit the people, pl of inuk a man
xref
See Eskimo
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