Maricopa
/ˌmær.ɪˈkoʊ.pə/noun
A member of a Native American people of southern Arizona, or the Yuman language they speak.
Did you know?Maricopa is an exonym used in English for the Piipaash people; the name is not securely analyzable from the language itself, and its exact origin remains uncertain.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Colonial Era
Piipaash
Piipaash
“The people’s own name for themselves, meaning simply 'the people'.”
17th-18th Century
Spanish
Maricopa
“A Spanish-recorded tribal name applied to the people of southern Arizona.”
19th Century
English
Maricopa
“The English form of the tribal name, used for the people and place names in Arizona.”
Modern English
English
Maricopa
“A Native American people of Arizona, and by extension the county and city names derived from that ethnonym.”