muktuk

English

Alternative forms

• maktak, maktaaq, maqtaq

Etymology

From Inuktitut (Inuvialuktun) ᒪᖅᑕᖅ (maqtaq) and Inupiaq maktak (“whaleskin with attached blubber”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌktʌk/

Noun

muktuk (usually uncountable, plural muktuks)

1. The skin and blubber of a whale, traditionally used as food by the Inuit.
   • 2003, Stan Jones, White Sky, Black Ice:

     "Nathan, my baby!" Martha said. "Come get your muktuk! This my Cousin Clara, Clara Stone."

   • 2006, Nancy Gates, The Alaska Almanac: Facts about Alaska, page 130:

     The two species of whale from which muktuk is most often sliced are the bowhead and the beluga, or white whale.