Araucanian

[ ar-aw-key-nee-uhn ]

noun

1. a member of an Indigenous people of central Chile and northern Argentina, living especially in the Araucania region.
2. the language of the Araucanians, spoken in central Chile and northern Argentina.

adjective

1. of or relating to the Araucanians or to their language.
2. of or relating to the region of Araucania in Chile.

Araucanian

/ ˌærɔːˈkeɪnɪən /

noun

1. a South American Indian language; thought to be an isolated branch of the Penutian phylum, spoken in Chile and W Argentina
2. a member of the people who speak this language

adjective

1. of or relating to this people or their language

Word History and Origins

Origin of Araucanian¹

First recorded in 1900–05; Araucani(a) + -an

Example Sentences

"We don't work as a collective, but we do try to show the diversity of voices behind the protests," fellow illustrator Alexandra Gross, 30, says of their posters which include text in Mapudungun, an Araucanian language spoken by the Mapuche, the largest indigenous community in south-central Chile.

From BBC

Thanks to their mastery of horses and rifles, the Plains Indians of North America, the Araucanian Indians of southern Chile, and the Pampas Indians of Argentina fought off invading whites longer than did any other Native Americans, succumbing only to massive army operations by white governments in the 1870s and 1880s.

From Literature

North American Plains Indians, South American Araucanian Indians, New Zealand’s Maoris, and Ethiopians acquired guns and used them to hold off European conquest for a long time, though they were ultimately defeated.

From Literature

These days, many Mapuches in South America are unacquainted with the history of the short-lived kingdom, even though it represented a landmark attempt at indigenous nation building, said Reynaldo Mariqueo, a backer of Mr. Parasiliti and one of four Mapuches serving on an Araucanian governing council.

From Wall Street Journal

Emotions over the schism are running high in unlikely pockets of Araucanian activism, such as Bryn Athyn, Pa., headquarters of the 282-member North American Araucanian Royalist Society.

From Wall Street Journal