Miskito

[ muh-skee-toh ]

noun

, plural Mis·ki·tos, (especially collectively) Mis·ki·to

1. a member of an Indigenous people of northeastern Nicaragua and adjacent areas of Honduras.
2. the language of the Miskito.

adjective

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Miskito¹

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

It is the first significant escalation of Miskito migration to the U.S. since the Nicaraguan civil war of the 1980s.

From Los Angeles Times

They departed from the wooden hut they shared with a relative in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, in October, two weeks after the government jailed Brooklyn Rivera, an advocate and elected representative of the Miskito nations.

From Los Angeles Times

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

From New York Times

“We are struggling to restore democracy,” said Daisy George West, a member of Nicaragua’s Miskito community, a minority group that lives on the country’s eastern coast and has fought to preserve its culture and political freedom.

From Los Angeles Times