kabloona

[ kab-loo-nuh ]

noun

, Canadian chiefly Arctic.

1. a white man; a European.

Kabloona

/ kəˈbluːnə /

noun

1. (in Canada) a person who is not of Inuit ancestry, esp a White person

Word History and Origins

Origin of kabloona¹

1765–75; < Inuit qablunaaq, probably derivative of qava the South; association with qablu “eyebrow” has given rise to the spurious translation “person with big eyebrows”

Word History and Origins

Origin of kabloona¹

from Inuktitut

Example Sentences

One day, for instance, in securing some of the gear of a sledge, Okotook broke a part of it composed of a piece of our white line, and I shall never forget the contemptuous sneer with which he muttered in soliloquy the word “Kabloona!” in token of the inferiority of our materials to his own. 

From Project Gutenberg

On the 20th three or four other Esquimaux, strangers to us, arrived at Igloolik from the northward, and we found from two young men who visited us on the following day, that they came from Too-n=o=o-nek, a place undoubtedly situated somewhere on the western coast of Baffin's Bay, or about some of the inlets communicating with it, as they had there seen several Kabloona ships employed in killing whales.

From Project Gutenberg

He put it into my hands to repair, taking it for granted that a Kabloona would succeed much better than himself.

From Project Gutenberg

One day, for instance, in securing some of the gear of a sledge, Okotook broke a part of it, composed of a piece of our white line, and I shall never forget the contemptuous sneer with which he muttered in soliloquy the word "Kabloona!" in token of the inferiority of our materials to his own.

From Project Gutenberg

On taking their departure, these good-humoured and ever-cheerful people greeted us with three cheers in the true Kabloona style, a mode of salutation they had observed once or twice among us, and frequently practised for their amusement and ours.

From Project Gutenberg