n. A family of North American Indian languages spoken by the Nootka and other peoples of Washington and British Columbia. [Alteration of Wakashian, nonce-word used to describe the Nootka by Captain James Cook in his account of the Pacific Northwest : Nootka wa·ka·š, good (considered by Cook to be the characteristic exclamation of the Nootka ) + -IAN.] Wa·kashan adj. |
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