Lakota
/ləˈkoʊtə/noun
A member of a Native American people of the Great Plains, or the Lakota language.
Did you know?Lakota is the name used by one branch of the Sioux peoples for themselves, and its meaning is commonly given as “allies” or “friends,” not a mystical title invented by outsiders.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Contact / Indigenous
Lakota
lakȟóta
“the people called Lakota; often glossed as “allies” or “friends””
19th Century
English
Lakota
“an English rendering of the ethnonym used for the Lakota people”
Modern English
English
Lakota
“a member of the Lakota people or the Lakota language”
Modern English
English
Lakota
“the ethnonym and language name in standard English usage”