Kiowa

American  

[kahy-uh-wuh, -wah, -wey] / ˈkaɪ ə wə, -ˌwɑ, -ˌweɪ /

noun

plural

Kiowas,

plural

Kiowa

1. a member of an Indigenous Great Plains tribe, now living primarily in Oklahoma.

2. the language of the Kiowa, closely related to Tanoan.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Kiowa or their language.

Etymology

Origin of Kiowa

First recorded in 1800–10; from Kiowa kɔjgwu “principal people”

Example Sentences

Lawrence, but she got to know his widow and fellow writer, Frieda, on her visits to the Kiowa Ranch that summer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

M. Scott Momaday, in his essay “The Way to Rainy Mountain,” describes his Kiowa grandmother, who “bore an image of deicide.”

From Salon • Sep. 1, 2024

“It’s a status symbol. It’s not about ethnicity,” said Dieckman, whose name as a member of the Kiowa Tribe in Oklahoma is Tsay Goon Pi Tahlee.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 4, 2023

She also recalled older Kiowa women who served as house mothers in the dormitories who let her speak her Native language and treated her with kindness.

From Washington Times • Jul. 8, 2022

At one point, the boy remembered, he’d been showing Kiowa a picture of his girlfriend.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien