Nez Perce

(nĕz′ pûrs′, nĕs′) also Nez Per·cé (pər-sā′)

n. pl. Nez Perce or Nez Per·ces (pûr′sĭz) also Nez Percé or Nez Per·cés (-sāz′)

1. A member of a Native American people formerly inhabiting the lower Snake River and its tributaries in western Idaho, northeast Oregon, and southeast Washington, with present-day populations in western Idaho and northeast Washington.

2. The Sahaptian language of the Nez Perce.

[French Nez-Percé : nez, nose + percé, past participle of percer, to pierce (on the model of Nez Perce cú·pn'itpel'u· : cú·pn'it, piercing + -pel'u·, people, from the nasal septum piercing practiced by the Nez Perce up to the early 1800s ).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Nez Percé

(ˈnɛz ˈpɜːs; French ne pɛrse)

npl Nez Percés (ˈpɜːsɪz; French pɛrse) or Nez Percé

1. (Peoples) a member of a North American Indian people of the Pacific coast, a tribe of the Sahaptin

2. (Languages) the Sahaptin language of this people

[French, literally: pierced nose]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Nez Percé

(ˈnɛz ˈpɜrs)

n., pl. Nez Per•cés, (esp. collectively) Nez Percé.

1. a member of an American Indian people of the lower Snake and Salmon river regions in Idaho, SE Washington, and NE Oregon.

2. the language of the Nez Percé, akin to Sahaptin.

[1805–15; < French: literally, pierced nose]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	Nez Perce - a member of a tribe of the Shahaptian people living on the pacific coast Sahaptin, Sahaptino, Shahaptian - a member of a North American Indian people who lived in Oregon along the Columbia river and its tributaries in Washington and northern Idaho
	2.	Nez Perce - the Shahaptian language spoken by the Nez Perce Sahaptin, Shahaptian - a Penutian language spoken by the Shahaptian

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Clarke laid up his barge and canoes in a sheltered place, on the banks of a small bay, overgrown with shrubs and willows, confiding them to the care of the Nez Perce chief, who, on being promised an ample compensation, engaged to have a guardian eye upon them; then mounting his steed, and putting himself at the head of his little caravan, he shook the dust off his feet as he turned his back upon this village of rogues and hard dealers.

Here he found a village or encampment of forty huts or tents, covered with mats, and inhabited by Nez Perces, or Pierced-nose Indians, as they are called by the traders; but Chipunnish, as they are called by themselves.

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This speech was translated two or three times by Nez Perce and creole interpreters.

Here, also, the savage tribes connected with the trade, the Nez Perces or Chopunnish Indians, and Flatheads, had pitched their lodges beside the streams, and with their squaws, awaited the distribution of goods and finery.

Unluckily, the trappers and their allies, in searching for the fort, had got scattered, so that Wyeth, and a number of Nez Perces, approached the fort on the northwest side, while others did the same on the opposite quarter.

This however, was abandoned; the Nez Perces being unwilling to destroy the robes and blankets, and other spoils of the enemy, which they felt sure would fall into their hands.

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Common names for these bags include "soft wallets," "cornhusk bags," and "Nez Perce" bags.

Flat Twined Bags: A Brief Introduction

For the Nez Perce Tribe, the year so far has been one of business expansion starting with a hole in one and, more recently, taking the plunge into a hot springs enterprise.

Nez Perce diversify into golf course, hot springs businesses

Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War

And woven through the storyline is the iconography of the frontier--the rodeo queens, the prairie, the rich tribal history of the Nez Perce Indians who first settled the Wallowa region thousands of years ago.

Heart land