CHamoru

[ chuh-mawr-oh; Spanish chah-mawr-raw ]

noun

, plural CHa·mor·us [ch, uh, -, mawr, -ohz, chah-, mawr, -, r, aws], (especially collectively) CHa·mor·u

1. a people inhabiting the Mariana Islands, or people of CHamoru origin or descent.
2. the Austronesian language of the CHamoru.

Spelling Note

The first two letters are both capitalized in the official spelling of CHamoru to indicate that they make a single sound. Several other languages have such digraphs marked by spelling conventions, such as the ligature œ in French or æ in Old English.

Word History and Origins

Origin of CHamoru¹

First recorded in 1990–95; a native name based on the indigenous orthography of the Spanish Chamorro ( def )

Example Sentences

Roy and John were approached by Roman Dela Cruz, a CHamoru cultural advocate and president of the Acho Marianas, a traditional slingstone-throwing organization, who heard about GotYourSix71 and invited them to hold their weekly meetings at the Sagan Kotturan CHamoru — a cultural center that hosts traditional artists, bakers, healers and seafarers.

From New York Times

Over centuries of migration, the CHamoru have become a minority on the island.

From New York Times

There are about a dozen family plots inside Andersen, so, somewhat confusingly, CHamoru families could still visit their tracts, but because they were inside the base and therefore not connected to power or sewage, they could not live on them.

From New York Times

Roy’s grandfather never spoke about how their island had been colonized for hundreds of years: first by the Spanish, beginning in 1668, and then the Americans, in 1898, until they fled in 1941, returning three years later to liberate the CHamoru people from brutal Japanese occupation.

From New York Times

He saw the veterans as descendants of the ancient CHamoru warfighters, who had taken on the Spanish conquistadors with slings in hundreds of sail-powered outrigger canoes, circling them at two to three times their speed.

From New York Times