Kiowa

American  

[kahy-uh-wuh, -wah, -wey] / ˈkaɪ ə wə, -ˌwɑ, -ˌweɪ /

noun

Kiowas, plural Kiowa plural

1. a member of an Indigenous Great Plains tribe, now living primarily in Oklahoma.

2. the language of the Kiowa, closely related to Tanoan.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Kiowa or their language.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• Kiowa
  plural
• Kiowas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Kiowa

First recorded in 1800–10; from Kiowa kɔjgwu “principal people”

Example Sentences

A priest, noticing Pratt’s skillful doodling, bought him art supplies and showed him a collection of work by the Kiowa Five, a renowned group of early 20th-century painters who’d attended the school.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

M. Scott Momaday, in his essay “The Way to Rainy Mountain,” describes his Kiowa grandmother, who “bore an image of deicide.”

From Salon • Sep. 1, 2024

“The stage itself has expanded,” said Adam Piron, a Kiowa and Mohawk filmmaker and the director of the Sundance Institute Indigenous Program.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 5, 2024

Hokeah’s characters exist at the intersection of Kiowa, Cherokee and Mexican identity, which provides a vital exploration of indigeneity in contemporary American letters.

From New York Times • Aug. 16, 2022

The mud seemed to flow back faster than they could dig, but Kiowa was their friend and they kept at it anyway.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien