Mapuche

[ mo-poo-chey, mo-poo-chey ]

noun

, plural Map·u·che.

1. a member of an ethnically diverse Indigenous people of Chile and Argentina.
2. Also called Map·u·dun·gan [mo-poo-, doon, -g, uh, n]. the Araucanian language of the Mapuche people, spoken in parts of Chile and Argentina.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Mapuche or their language.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Mapuche¹

First recorded in 1875–80; from Mapuche, equivalent to mapu “land” + che “people,” a self-designation

Example Sentences

Rafael Torres, a member of Chile's indigenous Mapuche community, is an avid Palestino FC fan who was at a recent rally in support of Gaza.

From Reuters

The Māori people in New Zealand, the Sámi people in Arctic Scandinavia and Russia, and the Mapuche people in Patagonia all face similar issues, with journalists who cover climate change, conflicts over land and resources and missing and murdered women, she said.

From Seattle Times

Then Millaray Jara Collio, or MC Millaray as the young rapper calls herself, spun away and exploded onto the stage with an animated rap about the presence of Chile’s military in the territory of the Mapuche, the country’s largest Indigenous group.

From New York Times

“I want to give my life to the ‘weichán,’” she said, referring to the fight to regain Wallmapu and traditional Mapuche values.

From New York Times

At the end of 2021 and in the first half of 2022, the conflict in the Mapuche territories, where a state of emergency has been regularly renewed by governments on both the right and left, was at one of its most tense periods in decades.

From New York Times