Miskito

American  

[muh-skee-toh] / məˈski toʊ /

Also Mosquito

noun

plural

Miskitos,

plural

Miskito

1. a member of an Indigenous people of northeastern Nicaragua and adjacent areas of Honduras.

2. the language of the Miskito.

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adjective

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

Etymology

Origin of Miskito

First recorded in 1770–80; from Spanish Mosquito, from Miskito Miskito, a self-designation of uncertain orign

Example Sentences

Apiñas and her family are part of a mass exodus of the Miskito Indigenous community, descendants of Indigenous people, Europeans and Africans.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2024

In distant villages inhabited by Indigenous people known as the Miskito, homes were leveled and growing fields were ravaged.

From New York Times • Nov. 28, 2023

Nearly 3,000 Miskito people have fled their homes in the northern Caribbean region since 2015 due to conflict, according to a report by the Oakland Institute, a research nonprofit in California.

From Salon • Oct. 12, 2020

The Miskito complaints are similar to problems that led to confrontations in neighbouring Nicaragua earlier this year.

From The Guardian • Nov. 10, 2015

More unsettling for the contras was Miskito Leader Brooklyn Rivera's decision to travel to Managua for peace talks.

From Time Magazine Archive