# Pomo

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #85,657

## Definitions
1. An indigenous population native to Northern California.

## Etymology
Used in English since 1877, Pomo derives from the Pomo language words /pʰoːmoː/ and /pʰoʔmaʔ/, meaning "those who live at red earth hole". It was once the name of a village in Southern Potter Valley, possibly referring to the red mineral magnesite used for beads, or to the reddish earth and clay such as hematite mined in the area.
At the same time in the Northern Pomo dialect, -pomo or -poma was used as a suffix after the names of places for subgroups of people of that place.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pomo