1. 1. A Native American people formerly inhabiting a large area of Colorado, Utah, and northern New Mexico, with present-day populations in northeast Utah and along the Colorado-New Mexico border.
   2. A member of this people.
2. The Uto-Aztecan language of the Ute.

[From Utah, Ute Indian, from American Spanish Yuta, akin to Southern Paiute yuuttaci.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.