Salish

American  

[sey-lish] / ˈseɪ lɪʃ /

noun

1. a member of any of various North American Indian peoples speaking a Salishan language.

2. Also called Montana Salish.  Also called Séliš.  an Interior Salish language of Montana and Washington spoken by the Flathead, Spokane, and Kalispel peoples.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Salishan languages or their speakers.

Salish British  

/ ˈseɪlɪʃən, ˈseɪlɪʃ, ˈsæl- /

noun

1. a family of North American Indian languages spoken in the northwestern US and W Canada

2. (functioning as plural) the peoples collectively who speak these languages, divided in Canada into the Coast Salish and the Interior Salish

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Etymology

Origin of Salish

First recorded in 1840–50; from Southern Interior Salish séʔliš literally, Flathead ¹ ( def. ), a self-designation

Example Sentences

A month earlier, it debuted the tween label Sincerely Yours, with the 16-year-old influencer Salish Matter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 8, 2025

Fifteen-year-old American YouTuber Salish Matter unveiled her brand Sincerely Yours in October, drawing tens of thousands of people -- and police reinforcements -- to a launch event at a New Jersey mall.

From Barron's • Nov. 28, 2025

The team found that inner coast transients, estimated at roughly 350 individuals, typically stayed about six kilometers from shore in relatively shallow areas such as the Salish Sea.

From Science Daily • Nov. 20, 2025

Spaal’ the Raven and Smuy the little deer are neighbors who live next to the Salish Sea.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2024

It was the same technique that the Coast Salish peoples of the Northwest had used for centuries to fashion bentwood boxes out of single planks of cedar.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown