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Wakashan

[wah-kash-uh n, waw-kuh-shan]
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noun
  1. a family of American Indian languages spoken in British Columbia and Washington and including especially Kwakiutl and Nootka.
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Origin of Wakashan

1895; coined by J.W. Powell from Wakash, used as the name of a Nootka subgroup but originally a misapplication of Nootka wa·ka·š bravo!; see -an
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for wakashan

Historical Examples

  • The relationship of this family to the Wakashan is a very interesting problem.

    Indian Linguistic Families Of America, North Of Mexico

    John Wesley Powell

British Dictionary definitions for wakashan

Wakashan

noun
  1. a family of North American Indian languages of British Columbia and Washington, including Kwakiutl and Nootka
  2. a speaker of any of these languages
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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