/peuh nooh"tee euhn, -sheuhn/ , n.
1. a group of American Indian language families of central and coastal California, including Wintu, Maidu, Yokuts, Miwok, and Costanoan, thought to be descendants of a single protolanguage spoken at a remote period.
2. any of several other hypothesized genetic groupings of languages that include these languages and, in addition, otherwise unclassified languages of the Pacific Northwest, Columbia River plateau, Mexico, and Central America.
adj.
3. of or pertaining to Penutian.
[ 1913; pen + uti, schematized bases for "two" in Maidu-Wintu-Yokuts and Miwok-Costanoan, respectively + -AN ]