appaloosa

See also: Appaloosa

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌæ.pəˈlu.sə/

Etymology 1

an appaloosa

a +‎ Palouse +‎ -a.From the phrase "a Palouse horse", referring to the Palouse River near which they were first encountered by non-Native Americans.[1] The river is named for the Palouse region; whether the region's name is (an anglicisation of) a francisation of the Sahaptin name of the Palus people or the people's name derives from a French designation of the region as pelouse is unclear.

Alternative forms

Appaloosa

Noun

appaloosa (countable and uncountable, plural appaloosas)

(US, uncountable) A breed of horse having a spotted rump.
(countable) A horse of the breed

Translations

breed of horse

Navajo: łį́į́ʼ yishtłizhii
Portuguese: appaloosa m or f

Etymology 2

Ellipsis of Appaloosa cat, Apaloosa catfish.Shortening of "Appaloosa cat" (itself a shortening of "Apaloosa catfish"), after the Appaloosa (Opelousa) tribe which resided in Louisiana. The tribe's name is Choctaw, the second element of it being losa (“black”); the first element is variously supposed to be a term for "head" or "skull",[2] "leggings", "moccasins",[3] or "body".[4]

Alternative forms

Appaloosa

Noun

appaloosa (plural appaloosas)

(Southern US) A catfish.
- 2005, David Francis, The Great Inland Sea, page 141:
  A big fish wends its way towards the shape the light makes, stops and sucks at air. Mottled brown and black, with a pink, appaloosa mouth.
- 2008, Harry Noble, Me and Burnice: A Simpler Time, page 167:
  On a two-day camp out at Red Bluff on the Angelina River in East Texas, we had out twelve trotlines, fishing for mud, appaloosa, blue and channel catfish.

References

2002, Dave Conklin, Montana History Weekends: 52 Adventures in History, page 63: "White settlers first described the colorful native mounts as "a Palouse horse," which was soon slurred to "Appalousey."
1911, John Reed Swanton, Indian tribes of the lower Mississippi Valley and adjacent coast, page 364: It is said the word appalousa, in the Indian language, means ' black head,' or 'black skull.'
1905, Bulletin - United States Geological Survey, issue 257, page 232: Opelousas; town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, named from a tribe of Indians, the name signifying " black head," or " black moccasins."
Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “appaloosa”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.paˈlu.zɐ/
- (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.paˈlu.za/

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.pɐˈlu.zɐ/

Noun

appaloosa m or f by sense (plural appaloosas)

appaloosa (a breed of horse)

[1] 2002, Dave Conklin, Montana History Weekends: 52 Adventures in History, page 63: "White settlers first described the colorful native mounts as "a Palouse horse," which was soon slurred to "Appalousey."

[2] 1911, John Reed Swanton, Indian tribes of the lower Mississippi Valley and adjacent coast, page 364: It is said the word appalousa, in the Indian language, means ' black head,' or 'black skull.'

[3] 1905, Bulletin - United States Geological Survey, issue 257, page 232: Opelousas; town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, named from a tribe of Indians, the name signifying " black head," or " black moccasins."

[4] Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “appaloosa”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.