Join free

chinook

English · Français · Deutsch

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

chinook¹

  • /t͡ʃɪˈnuːk/
  • /ʃɪˈnʊk/

Rhymes with -ʊk, -uːk

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Lower Chehalis c̓inúk (“the name of a Chinook village on the Columbia River”).

noun chinooks

  1. Canada, US The descending, warm, dry wind on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains that generally blows from the southwest and can rapidly increase the temperature due to the much warmer air it brings. Bije was a grim man, lean and hard as jerked buffalo beef,with hair and beard the colour of melting snow in a chinook.
  2. The chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).

Chinook²

  • /t͡ʃɪˈnʊk/
  • /ʃ-/
  • /-ˈnuk/

Rhymes with -ʊk

Where it comes from

From Lower Chehalis c̓inúk (the name of a Chinook village on the Columbia river).

proper noun

  1. A Native American language of the Penutian family of Oregon and Washington.
  2. Chinook Jargon, a pidgin trade language of the Pacific Northwest composed primarily of words from Chinook proper, English, and French, with some borrowings from other languages. The Missionary's address rolled on in choppy Chinook, undertoned by a gentle voice from the back of the room which told Tanook in pure Indian words what he was to do.
  3. A city, the county seat of Blaine County, Montana, United States.
  4. The Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter.

noun Chinooks · Chinook

  1. A member of a Native American people whose traditional tribal grounds were along the lower and middle Columbia River. The Chinook sent a hunting party to the south.
  2. Alternative letter-case form of chinook

Translations

Every language

noun the descending, warm, dry wind on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains

Españolviento cálido

noun king salmon

Españolsalmon real
Portuguêssalmão-real, salmão-rei
DeutschKönigslachs

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"chinook." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/chinook. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

chinook. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/chinook

Chicago

"chinook." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/chinook.

BibTeX
@misc{chinook_2026,
  title = {chinook},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/chinook},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}