Tumwater

T1U1M3W4A1T1E1R1

proper noun

A city in Thurston County, Washington, United States.

OriginChinook Jargon tumwata ← English water →
UncommonScrabble 13
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. A city in Thurston County, Washington, United States.

    I will continue to support differentiated learning experiences for all of Tumwater students to include those with learning disabilities and our gifted and talented.

    2025 August 2, Ann Duan, “Primary Primer: 3 questions for Tumwater School Board candidates”, in The Olympian, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2025
  2. A middle school in Portland, Oregon.
    1 more example

    The Beaverton School Board has selected a name for a new middle school located in the Cedar Mill area. On Monday, Feb. 22, the board unanimously decided on the name Tumwater Middle School for the school located on Northwest 118th Avenue, which has been previously referred to as Timberland. […] Tumwater means “waterfall” in the Chinuk Wawa language.

    2021 February 28, Gabby Urenda, “Renamed Tumwater Middle School honors Chinuk Wawa language”, in Portland Tribune, archived from the original on 21 Apr 2026

Origin

  1. Englishwater
  2. Chinook Jargontumtum“heartbeat”
  3. Chinook Jargontumwata“waterfall”
  4. EnglishTumwater

Borrowed from Chinook Jargon tumwata (“waterfall”), from Chinook Jargon tumtum (“heartbeat”) + English water.

More words from Chinook Jargon, English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Tumwater. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tumwater

MLA

“Tumwater.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tumwater. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Tumwater,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tumwater.

Source: Tumwater on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.