chinook

Where does the word "chinook" come from? It comes from Chinookan Tsinuk, and was adopted directly into English (1800s).

Chinook’s story begins in Chinookan: Tsinuk meant “the Chinook people.” The name of a Native American people of the Pacific Northwest. It reached English by 1800s as chinook. Named after the people; the Chinook Jargon, a trade pidgin of the Pacific Northwest fur trade, spread their name widely; later applied to a warm wind from their homeland's direction. Today, chinook means a warm, dry wind that descends the eastern side of mountain ranges.

1. Stage 1 · Chinookan · ancient Tsinuk "the Chinook people", the name of a Native American people of the Pacific Northwest.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1800s chinook "a warm wind off the Pacific", named after the people; the Chinook Jargon, a trade pidgin of the Pacific Northwest fur trade, spread their name widely; later applied to a warm wind from their homeland's direction.