umiak

or oo·mi·ak

[ oo-mee-ak ]

/ ˈu miˌæk /

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noun

an Inuit or Yupik open boat that consists of a wooden frame covered with skins and provided with several thwarts: used for transport of goods and passengers.

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Origin of umiak

First recorded in 1760–70, umiak is from the Inuit word umiaq “women's boat”

Words nearby umiak

Ume, Umeå, umeboshi, UMF, umfazi, umiak, UMIST, UML, umlaut, umlungu, ummah

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use umiak in a sentence

One of them is the great woman's boat called the umiak, from twelve to eighteen yards in length, and four or five in width.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. II|Francis Augustus Cox
The umiak dashed off, but it seemed as if it were standing still, so swiftly did the whale overhaul it.
Eskimo Folktales|Unknown
(a) Method of fastening bilge-streaks to stem of umiak; (b) method of framing rib to gunwale, etc.
Ethnological results of the Point Barrow expedition|John Murdoch
The two assist him to rise and the heavy load is taken to the umiak and placed in the bottom for ballast.
Ethnology of the Ungava District, Hudson Bay Territory|Lucien Turner

The form of the umiak, in the region under consideration, differs greatly from that of the Eskimo of Bering sea.
Ethnology of the Ungava District, Hudson Bay Territory|Lucien Turner

British Dictionary definitions for umiak

umiak

oomiak

/ (ˈuːmɪˌæk) /

noun

a large open boat made of stretched skins, used by InuitCompare kayak

Word Origin for umiak

C18: from Greenland Inuktitut: boat for the use of women

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