Inuit

or In·nu·it

[in-oo-it, -yoo-]

noun, plural In·u·its, (especially collectively) In·u·it for 1.

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.

Origin of Inuit

1755–65; < Inuit: people, plural of inuk person

Also called Inupik.

Usage note

See Eskimo, Indian.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for inuit

Contemporary Examples of inuit

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.
Dan Snyder's Indian Chief Is Neither
Michael Tomasky
June 28, 2013
Not that Western civilization has never embraced the mythical Inuit practice of leaving the old out on an ice floe.
The Great Untapped 80-Something Market
Liz Smith
March 16, 2010

Historical Examples of inuit

She wept about it, and begged the Inuit to help her get him back.
A Treasury of Eskimo Tales
Clara Kern Bayliss
When the Inuit saw this they cried, "Itajung, your wife is flying away."
A Treasury of Eskimo Tales
Clara Kern Bayliss
Here is the stone the Inuit uses for pots—what you call soapstone.
Adrift in the Ice-Fields
Charles W. Hall
Near the singing house the other Inuit of the village were playing.
The Central Eskimo
Franz Boas
When the Inuit saw this they called out, Ititaujang, your wife is flying away.
The Central Eskimo
Franz Boas

British Dictionary definitions for inuit

Inuit

Innuit

noun plural -it or -its

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

Word Origin for Inuit

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