Yakima

American  

[yak-uh-muh] / ˈjæk əˌmə /

noun

• Yakimas,
  plural
• Yakima
  plural

1. a city in southern Washington State.

2. a river in south central Washington State. 203 miles (327 kilometers) long.

3. former name of the Yakama and their language (often used attributively).

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Yakima
  plural
• Yakimas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Yakima

see origin at Yakama ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Yakima Yakimas

I did talk to people who are happy with Runna, including Jewel Christensen, a seasoned runner from Yakima, Wash.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026

Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, Washington State, was one of the 216 who supported the USCCB's Special Message.

From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2025

Before he became a standout for the Rams and a star at Eastern Washington, Cooper Kupp was a hometown hero on the football fields of Yakima, Wash.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2025

He was undersized and largely unrecruited out of Davis High in Yakima, Wash., where basketball was traditionally a bigger deal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2025

For three days, Yakima was paralyzed and cut off from the world, its airport closed, its approach roads impassable.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

As already noted, Garnett crushed the Yakimas at one blow, and Wright a little later repeated Steptoe’s march to Spokane, but did not repeat his retreat.

From The Columbia River Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce by William Denison Lyman

Two days later a force of two thousand Yakimas, Umatillas, and Walla Wallas came in sight under Kamiakin and Peupeumoxmox.

From The Columbia River Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce by William Denison Lyman

The Yakimas and Klikelats inhabit the region north of the Dalles, between the Cascade Range and the Columbia.

From Descriptive Catalogue of Photographs of North American Indians by W. H. Jackson

But in spite of oratory, zeal, and argument, nothing could overcome the influence of Kamiakin, Owhi, Quelchen, Five Crows, and others of the Yakimas and Cayuses.

From The Columbia River Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce by William Denison Lyman

Far, then, from coining the word, Winthrop did not even change its Indian form, as some have supposed, by modifying the mouth-filling "Tahoma" of the Yakimas into the simpler, stronger and more musical "Tacoma."

From The Mountain that was 'God' Being a Little Book About the Great Peak Which the Indians Named 'Tacoma' but Which is Officially Called 'Rainier' by John H. (John Harvey) Williams