Paiute
/ˈpʌɪuːt
/noun (plural same or Paiutes)
1A member of either of two culturally similar but geographically separate and linguistically distinct American Indian peoples (the Southern Paiute and the Northern Paiute) of the western US.The Winnemucca family consistently urged Paiutes toward accommodation of non-Indians and selective acculturation....
- In 1878, the Bannocks and Paiutes of Idaho and eastern Oregon were defeated.
- He wanted to make sure that the officer knew that, to the Paiutes, the skulls were more than merely missing evidence.
2 [mass noun] Either of the Uto-Aztecan languages of the Paiute, now with few speakers.When she moved away, she missed her family, missed the open space, missed hearing Paiute - ‘our language,’ she says....
- Someone spoke in Paiute, and kept pushing on his side.
- The Bannock people speak a dialect of Northern Paiute.
adjective
Relating to the Paiute or their languages.And who knows how many words of Pueblo, Ute, Hopi, or Paiute origin have become part of the Navajo language?...
- Many other Paiute groups have actively taken steps to preserve their language.
- Adam recognized the word as the Paiute term for medicine man, or healer.
Origin
From Spanish Payuchi, Payuta, influenced by Ute.