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cay·use

(kī-ys, kīys′)

n.
Pacific Northwest

A small sturdy horse, especially a Cayuse Indian pony.

[Short for cayuse pony, from CAYUSE.]

Cay·use

(kī-ys, kīys′)

n. pl. Cayuse or Cay·us·es

1. A member of a Native American people inhabiting northeast Oregon and southeast Washington.

a. The extinct traditional language of the Cayuse, not closely related to any other.

b. The dialect of Nez Perce spoken by the Cayuse in the 1800s and 1900s.

[From Columbian Salish (Salish language of the Columbia River valley) qayús, Cayuse or a kindred word in another language of the Pacific Northwest .]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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