Zuni
noun
a member of a group of North American Indians inhabiting the largest of the Indian pueblos, in western New Mexico.
Zuni
American
[zoo-nee]
/ ˈzu ni /
Also
Zuñi
noun
-
Zunis,
plural
-
Zuni
plural
-
a member of a group of North American Indians inhabiting the largest of the Indian pueblos, in western New Mexico.
-
the language of the Zuni.
Zuñi
British
/ ˈzuːnjiː, ˈsuː- /
noun
-
a member of a North American Indian people of W New Mexico
-
the language of this people, a member of the Penutian phylum of languages
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Zuni
An Americanism first recorded in 1830–35; earlier Zuñi, from Spanish (southwestern United States), from Acoma Keresan sɨ̂·ni (pronounced sθɨ̂·nyi ) or a cognate
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.
See Examples For:
Denied entrance by the Zuni inhabitants, the starving Spaniards decided to attack.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
He joined a team digging for dinosaur fossils in the Zuni Basin in New Mexico.
From NewsForKids.net ● Jun. 3, 2024
Zuni farmers in the southwestern United States made it through long stretches of extremely low rainfall between A.D.
From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2024
“Our main goal is to continue protecting our cultural significant ties to this area — that’s our biggest concern,” said Sanchez, now the Zuni representative on the coalition.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2024
He started singing again, this time it wasn’t a Laguna song; it sounded like a Jemez song or maybe one from Zuni.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
The Hopi and Zuñi tribes of Arizona and the modern Pueblo people of northern New Mexico are their descendants.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
The Eagle Dance, done by the Zuñi or Hopi Indian men, is much more energetic but Nita makes a very good gallant, I think, and Zan a demure and willing lady-love.”
From The Woodcraft Girls in the City by Lillian Elizabeth Roy
Fray Marcos accompanied it as far as Zuñi, and then returned to Mexico, being sadly crippled by rheumatism, from which he never fully recovered.
From The Spanish Pioneers by Charles F. Lummis
In each of these rooms lives a Zuñi family.
From Indian Stories Retold From St. Nicholas by Various
July Coronado reached the Zuñi pueblos, which he conquered with little difficulty.
From The Colonization of North America 1492-1783 by Herbert Eugene Bolton
Coronado survived the fight with the Zunis at Hawikku.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
The Zunis rained stones down on the invaders; one well-aimed boulder struck Coronado’s helmet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
They worked as coal miners, train mechanics, barkeeps, cowpunchers, lumberjacks, shepherds and Indian traders — Slavs, Italians, Finns, Russians, Irish, Greeks, Mexicans, Navajos and Zunis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2017
Last month 1,000 Navajos and 300 Zunis went a-nutting in small canvas-covered wagons.
From Time Magazine Archive
That was the warning the old Zunis, and Hopis, and Navajos had about Gallup.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
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