n. pl. Aleutor A·leuts 1. A member of an indigenous people inhabiting the Aleutian Islands and coastal areas of southwest Alaska. 2. The Eskimo-Aleut language of the Aleut. See Usage Note at Native American. [Russian, from Alut, a village on Kamchatka inhabited by the Alutor, a people speaking a language related to Chukchi and traditionally practicing whale-hunting (the Russians later extending their name for this people to the Aleut, who practice a similar lifestyle) .] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.