Zuni

noun

Zu·​ni ˈzü-nē How to pronounce Zuni (audio)
variants or less commonly Zuñi
1
plural Zuni or Zunis also Zuñi or Zuñis : a member of an Indigenous people of western New Mexico
2
: the language of the Zuni people

Examples of Zuni in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
There’s the one in Gallup, N.M., perpetually packed with buses from the nearby Navajo and Zuni nations. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2024 Established in the final month of the Obama administration, the monument carved out 1.3 million acres from BLM and Forest Service land with an abundance of cliff dwellings and cultural sites important to the Hopi Nation, Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Navajo Nation, and Zuni Pueblo. Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 3 Oct. 2024 Glasses, an avid turquoise and silver collector, curated a selection of jewelry from several artisan families throughout Navajo Nation, Hopi Pueblo, San Felipe Pueblo and Zuni Pueblo, which are seen in the campaign and available to purchase at select stores and online. Booth Moore, WWD, 16 Aug. 2024 Denver has fewer than 90 days to decide whether to buy the old Zuni Street steam plant from Xcel, a derelict site some locals want to see redeveloped into a community space. Axios Denver, Axios, 30 July 2024 Booth has also successfully pushed for improvements on Neptune Road, Boggy Creek Road and Zuni Road. Natalia Jaramillo, Orlando Sentinel, 29 July 2024 In Arizona and New Mexico, mesas are what the Zuni and Hopi and other tribes built pueblos on. Ian Frazier, The New Yorker, 15 July 2024 Hopi, Navajo, Zuni and various Puebloan peoples have longstanding connections to the land as a vital part of their heritage and spiritual practices. Tiffany Acosta, The Arizona Republic, 9 July 2024 In addition, the DAM has repatriated, completely apart from NAGPRA and on a voluntary basis, 18 art works, including the return of a war god to the Pueblo of Zuni in 1979, even prior to the enactment of NAGPRA, and art works to the Blackfeet Nation in 1995. W. Richard West, The Denver Post, 14 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

American Spanish Zuñi

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of Zuni was in 1834

Dictionary Entries Near Zuni

Cite this Entry

“Zuni.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Zuni. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

Zuni

noun
Zu·​ni ˈzü-nē How to pronounce Zuni (audio)
variants also Zuñi
plural Zuni or Zunis also Zuñi or Zuñis
: an Indigenous people of western New Mexico

More from Merriam-Webster on Zuni

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