Kiowa

noun

1
plural Kiowa or Kiowas : a member of an Indigenous people of the southern Great Plains

Note: Modern-day members live as the federally recognized Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma.

2
: the language of the Kiowa people

Examples of Kiowa in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Dark Winds and Blood Quantum actor Kiowa Gordon and Sera-Lys McArthur (Café Daughter, Outlander) have joined the cast of Many Wounds, a contemporary re-imagining of Lee Tamahori’s ground-breaking 1994 Maori film Once Were Warriors, set among indigenous communities in Canada. Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Mar. 2024 In the highest elevation areas south of Kiowa, another foot of snow accumulation is possible. Lauren Penington, The Denver Post, 10 Feb. 2024 His explorations of identity and self-definition, of the importance of the oral tradition in literature, and of his Kiowa heritage were interwoven with reverent evocations of landscape in passages of soaring lyrical prose. John Motyka, New York Times, 29 Jan. 2024 Start the walk at the Lake Murray trailhead, located at 5540 Kiowa Drive. Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Jan. 2024 His father, of Kiowa descent, was a painter, and his mother, whose background was English, French and Cherokee, was a writer. Olesia Plokhii, Washington Post, 29 Jan. 2024 And Kiowa Gordon—who got his big break with the Twilight Saga franchise—shows real acting chops as Jim Chee, who comes to the reservation as an undercover FBI agent and stays on as Leaphorn's new deputy. Ars Staff, Ars Technica, 29 Dec. 2023 And Quanah is helping convince TR, and TR creates a refuge where Quanah’s people are more or less in the Wichita Mountains, where the Kiowa, a different tribe, believe all the buffalo came out of the Earth. Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2023 The youngest entrepreneur was 6-year-old Kiowa, who pitched her Boo Boo Goo bandage product with the support of her father during season 5 in 2014, while season 15 features an 81-year-old entrepreneur. Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 29 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Kiowa.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

ultimately from Kiowa kɔ́ygú, a self-designation

First Known Use

1808, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of Kiowa was in 1808

Dictionary Entries Near Kiowa

Cite this Entry

“Kiowa.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Kiowa. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kiowa

noun
Ki·​o·​wa ˈkī-ə-ˌwȯ How to pronounce Kiowa (audio) -ˌwä How to pronounce Kiowa (audio)
plural Kiowa or Kiowas
: a member of an American Indian people of what are now Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas

More from Merriam-Webster on Kiowa

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