Chinook
/ʃɪˈnʊk/ or /tʃɪˈnʊk/noun
A warm, dry wind descending from the mountains, or a large Pacific salmon native to western North America.
Did you know?The warm wind and the salmon inherited the name of the Chinook people, whose ancestral homeland lies near the lower Columbia River; the exact original meaning of the tribal name remains uncertain.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-European contact
Chinookan
čínúk (reconstructed/recorded ethnonym)
“Name associated with the Chinook people of the lower Columbia region; its deeper meaning is uncertain.”
1792
English
Chinook
“Recorded in the journals of Captain Robert Gray and other early explorers as the name of the Indigenous people and region.”
Early 19th Century
English
Chinook
“Extended geographically to the Chinookan peoples and the lower Columbia River area.”
19th Century
English
Chinook
“Applied to a warm wind blowing eastward from the Pacific Northwest mountains, likely through regional usage connected with the Chinook country.”
19th Century
English
Chinook
“Used for the large Pacific salmon, also called king salmon, associated with the Pacific Northwest.”
Modern English
English
Chinook
“A regional name for the warm mountain wind and for the species Oncorhynchus tshawytscha.”