Variant: or Ku · te · nai
Pronunciation: ' kü-t ə - ˌ n ā , - ˌ n ē
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -nai or -nais
Etymology: ultimately from Kootenai ktunaxa, a self-designation of some Canadian Kootenai
Date: 1801
1 : a member of an American Indian people of the Rocky Mountains in both the U.S. and Canada
2 : the language of the Kootenai people