[Que.chua] n, pl Quechua or Quechuas [Sp, prob. fr. Southern Peruvian Quechua qheswa (simi), lit., valley speech] (1840) 1: a family of closely related languages spoken by Indian peoples of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina
2. a: a member of an Indian people of central Peru b: a group of peoples constituting the dominant element of the Inca Empire -- Que.chu.an adj or n