Nuu-chah-nulth
Americannoun
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a member of an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest, now living primarily in northwestern Washington State and on southwestern Vancouver Island.
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the Wakashan language of the Nuu-chah-nulth.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Nuu-chah-nulth
First recorded in 1975–80; from Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka); literally, “all along the mountains and sea” (of Vancouver Island ( def. ), common to all the Nuu-chah-nulth)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“He was a national treasure, and an international one,” said Nuu-chah-nulth artist Joe David, and friend of Holm’s for more than 50 years.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 24, 2020
The word comes from the language of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of coastal British Columbia and means “chief” or “great leader.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Aug. 9, 2018
Vancouver Island in British Columbia lost one of its First Nation vernaculars last year with the death of Alban Michael, the last speaker of a dialect of Nuu-chah-nulth.
From New York Times • Feb. 21, 2017
A member of the Nuu-chah-nulth, Coast Salish, and Cree nations from the Village of Maaqtusiis in Sovereign Ahousaht Territory, Canada, she grew up reading Mao with her father.
From The Guardian • Dec. 8, 2016
The Nuu-chah-nulth, like the Makah, told stories of the ocean receding suddenly, then flooding back powerfully and killing many, many people.
From Slate • Sep. 15, 2015
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
