Etymology

Comanche

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Today it means: A member of a Native American ethnic group residing especially in Texas and Oklahoma. Full definition →

Spanish comanche ← Ute kɨmantsi
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The story

  1. Ute · derived fromkɨmantsi
  2. Spanish · borrowed fromcomanche
  3. English todayComanche

Borrowed from Spanish comanche, itself borrowed from Old Ute kɨmantsi *[kɨˈman.tʃi] (“enemy”, “foreigner”). Compare Modern Southern Ute [kɨˈmaːtʃi̥] (“enemy”, “stranger”). The Comanches’ autonym is Nʉmʉnʉʉ (“the people”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.