The story
- Plains Cree · calque ofasinîwaciy
- French · calque ofMontagnes de Roche
- English todayRocky Mountains
Calque of French Montagnes de Roche first recorded in 1752 by Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, believed to itself be a calque from an indigenous language, possibly a calque of Plains Cree asinîwaciy, a compound which includes asiniy (“rock”) + waciy (“mountain”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.