Kiowa
/kaɪˈoʊ.ə/noun
A member of an Indigenous people historically associated with the southern Great Plains, or their Kiowa language.
Did you know?The Kiowa language belongs to the small Kiowa–Tanoan language family, whose surviving branches stretch from the Great Plains into the American Southwest.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-contact period
Kiowa
Ka’igwu / Cáuijògà
“Traditional Kiowa self-designations; their precise original analysis and literal translation remain debated.”
18th Century
Comanche and neighboring languages
Kiowa-like forms
“Neighboring peoples used forms of the name for the Kiowa; the exact transmission route into European languages is uncertain.”
18th Century
Spanish
Kiowa
“Spanish colonial and frontier records used forms of the name for the Kiowa people.”
19th Century
English
Kiowa
“English adopted the established ethnonym from Spanish and other regional usage.”
Modern English
English
Kiowa
“The standard English name for the people, their language, and related cultural or historical subjects.”