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🪶 A Native American 🗣️ A native language
Chinook

Chinook

8.6
A Native American people who lived near the mouth of the Columbia River
  • noun
  • /ʧɪˈnʊk/
translation icon : chinook
  • In history class, we studied the Chinook, who were known for their trading skills along the river.

Examples

  • His winter-run chinooks had probably been harvested by Native Americans using gill nets.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Global 31 2 7 Channel catfish, tilapia, salmon (chum, pink, coho, sockeye, Chinook), striped bass, eel.

    Academic text (2011)

  • The Chinook people have a rich cultural heritage deeply connected to the Columbia River.

  • My friend learned about the traditional crafts of the Chinook while visiting the Pacific Northwest.

Synonyms

Native American
vsChinook
161 3.4

A person whose family lived in North or South America before Europeans arrived

is a specific group from the Pacific Northwest near the Columbia River
tribesperson
vsChinook
6.5

A person who lives in a small community that shares the same customs

is an ethnic group tied to a particular place rather than lifestyle

Compounds

Chinook Jargon
9.9

A simple language made from native languages, French, and English used for trade in the Pacific Northwest

Chinook language
9.9

A native language the Chinook people speak near the lower Columbia River

chinook salmon
  • US
4.6

A large Pacific fish eaten as food that dies after laying eggs

chinook salmon
  • US
4.5

Pink or white flesh of a large Pacific fish that people eat

Chinook wind
  • US
8.2

A warm dry wind that blows down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and quickly raises temperature

Surface Forms

Chinook singular
Chinooks plural

Etymology

Chinook comes from the name the Native American people used for themselves around the Columbia River. A helpful way to remember it is 'people of the river mouth', and that is why Chinook refers to that group of people today.