Chumash
1 Americannoun
plural
Chumashes,plural
Chumash-
a member of an American Indian people who formerly inhabited the southern California coast from San Luis Obispo to Santa Monica Bay, as well as the Santa Barbara Islands and the interior westward to the San Joaquin Valley: noted for their sophisticated seacraft and rock paintings.
-
any of the Hokan languages of the Chumash, at least six in number, all now extinct.
noun
plural
Chumashimnoun
Etymology
Origin of chumash
literally: a fifth (part of the Torah)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hammel-Sawyer is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Maria Ysidora del Refugio Solares, one of the most revered ancestors of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians for her work in preserving its nearly lost Samala language.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026
Most Chumash baskets have some kind of pattern, although today people have to guess at the meaning of the symbols, Timbrook said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026
Tongva, Chumash and Cahuilla workers in California formed the backbone of rancho agriculture.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025
“Unlike Western belief systems, the Chumash held that humans could, with great effort, traverse these realms.”
From MarketWatch • Oct. 31, 2025
As regards the Esselen and Chumash nothing is known.
From The Religion of the Indians of California by Kroeber, A. L.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
