umpqua
umpqua Lexical Profile
• noun
North American A major river in the U.S. state of Oregon that flows generally westward from the Cascade Range to the Pacific Ocean.
"Anglers travel from across the country to fish for returning steelhead and salmon in the Umpqua."
North American A member of an indigenous Native American people traditionally inhabiting the Umpqua River basin in southwestern Oregon.
"The Umpqua historically maintained a rich cultural presence throughout the river valleys of western Oregon before the establishment of modern reservations."
North American An extinct Athabaskan language formerly spoken by the Upper Umpqua people of the Pacific Northwest.
"Linguists have studied historical phonetic archives to document the surviving vocabulary and complex grammar of Umpqua."
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from the indigenous term for the local geography or people, potentially from a Tolowa word 'vmkwa'. While the exact original meaning is debated by linguists, popular folklore often translates it as 'thundering water' or 'dancing water'.