Main Entry: Chi·nook

Pronunciation: \shə-ˈnu̇k, chə-, -ˈnük\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural Chinook or Chinooks

Etymology: Lower Chehalis (Salishan language of western Washington) c̓inúk, name of a Chinook village

Date: 1795

1 : a member of an American Indian people of the north shore of the Columbia River at its mouth
2 : a Chinookan language of the Chinook and other nearby peoples
3 often not capitalized a : a warm moist southwest wind of the coast from Oregon northward b : a warm dry wind that descends the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
4 not capitalized : chinook salmon