Kootenay

American  

[koot-n-ey, ˈkut-n-ee] / ˈkut nˌeɪ, -nˌi /

Or Kootenai,

noun

• Kootenays,
  plural
• Kootenay
  plural

1. a member of an Indigenous people of Montana, Idaho, and British Columbia.

2. the language of the Kootenay.

3. a river flowing from southwestern Canada through northwestern Montana and northern Idaho, swinging back into Canada to the Columbia River. 400 miles (645 km) long.

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adjective

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

Kootenay British  

/ ˈkuːtəniː, ˈkuːtneɪ /

noun

1. a river in W North America, rising in SE British Columbia and flowing south into NW Montana, then north into Idaho before re-entering British Columbia, broadening into Kootenay Lake , then flowing to the Columbia River. Length: 655 km (407 miles)

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Kootenay
  plural
• Kootenays
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Kootenay

First recorded in 1800–10; from Kootenay (a language isolate) Kútonâqa, a self-designation of some Canadian Kootenay; see isolate ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Kootenay Kootenays

Francois Masse, the Parks Canada Superintendent of the Lake Louise, Yoho, and Kootenay Field Unit, said the rockfall was an "extremely rare event" that was "neither predictable nor preventable".

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2025

Continuing on your journey, you’ll follow the shores of Kootenay Lake to the little town of Kaslo, known as the “Switzerland of Canada.”

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 23, 2024

The Kootenay Rockies erupt from valley floors, creating a geographic wonderland that is as alluring as it is beautiful.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 16, 2021

But in 2014, as he and colleagues were collecting from a new quarry in Kootenay National Park in British Columbia, they began finding scraps of a mysterious new animal.

From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2021

For Arthur, newly married, was leaving the city of so many tragic memories for ever; Vickars also had decided to accompany Arthur and Elizabeth to Kootenay.

From Masterman and Son by W. J. (William James) Dawson

While most are remote and require long hikes, a section of the West Kootenays to the Canadian Rockies holds five of the most easily accessible ones.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 23, 2024

The shop boasts the biggest ski wall in the Kootenays — as well as the largest selection of technical clothing — so you’re sure to walk out with something.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 3, 2022

Vietnam resisters were first attracted to the West Kootenays because of the presence of Quakers, who fed and sheltered runaways.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 19, 2017

A tall blond Canadian of Dutch ancestry, he was born in 1978 in a log cabin built by his hippie parents and their friends in the West Kootenays, a mountain range in British Columbia.

From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2011

This was the beginning of the trade between the Kootenays and white men.

From Pioneers of the Pacific Coast A Chronicle of Sea Rovers and Fur Hunters by Agnes C. (Agnes Christina) Laut