Kootenai

noun Koo·te·nai \ ˈkü-tə-ˌnā , -ˌnē \

variants: or Kutenai

Definition of Kootenai

plural Kootenai or Kootenais

1 : a member of an American Indian people of the Rocky Mountains in both the U.S. and Canada

2 : the language of the Kootenai people

Origin and Etymology of kootenai

ultimately from Kootenai ktunaxa, a self-designation of some Canadian Kootenai

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1801

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Kootenai

geographical name Koo·te·nai \ ˈkü-tə-ˌnā , -tə-nē \

variants: or in Canada Kootenay

Definition of Kootenai

river 407 miles (655 kilometers) long in southwestern Canada and northwestern U.S.; rises in British Columbia, flows south into Montana, west and north through Idaho, and back into British Columbia, where it goes through Kootenay Lake (65 miles, or 104 kilometers, long) into the Columbia River