Caddo
/ˈkædoʊ/noun
A Native American people of the south-central United States, and the language family associated with them.
Did you know?Caddo is an exonym based on the people’s own word for themselves, and its survival in English preserves a direct trace of Indigenous identity rather than a borrowed “mythical” meaning.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian
Caddo
hasí:nay
“The people’s own self-designation, meaning simply “the people” or “person/people” in Caddo usage.”
16th–17th Century
Spanish
Caddo
“Spanish colonial spelling used for the Caddo people encountered in the southeastern Plains and Texas region.”
18th Century
French
Caddo
“French colonial form adopted in records and maps for the same Native people.”
19th Century
English
Caddo
“English ethnonym for the Caddo people, later also used for the Caddo language and related cultural/geographic names.”