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Glite Dictionary
🏞️ A city in Idaho 🪶 A Native American group
Coeur d'Alene

Coeur d'Alene

1 9.9
A Native American person from the area around a lake in northern Idaho
  • noun
  • /kɔr dɑˈleɪn/
: Coeur d'Alene
  • A Coeur d'Alene elder spoke about their people's history with the land.
  • Coeur d'Alene Tribe

Examples

  • Many Coeur d'Alenes still practice traditional crafts.

  • The Coeur d'Alene people have a rich cultural heritage.

  • Members of the Coeur d'Alene have lived in Idaho for centuries.

  • The Coeur d'Alene are known for their strong cultural traditions.

  • Rep. Paulette Jordan, a member of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, could become the nation's first Native American governor.

  • Though life in the valley had changed, the affinity he felt for the Coeur d'Alenes was deep and indelible.

  • The mission was built in the 1850s by Coeur d'Alene Indians supervised by Jesuit missionary Father Anthony Ravalli.

Surface Forms

Coeur d'Alene singular
Coeur d'Alenes plural

Morphology

Coeur + d'Alene

This is a proper name (toponym/ethnonym) borrowed from French; the literal parts ('coeur' = heart, 'd'Alene' = of Alene) do not transparently encode the meaning 'a member of a Native American people' and the phrase functions as an arbitrary name. A B1 learner who knows the surface constituents (or even their French senses) would not infer the ethnographic sense without specific cultural or historical knowledge, so the expression is opaque.

Etymology

Coeur d'Alene as the people's name comes from French words coeur ('heart') and alène ('awl'). One popular story says French traders called them 'heart of the awl' because they were sharp at trading, and that strong image is why the name is still used today.