Meaning & use
Cochise
Last updated
Meanings
proper nounproper
The name of a nineteenth-century Chiricahua Apache leader who led resistance against the United States in the Southwest.
Grammar: Always capitalized, with no article: Cochise led his people, not the Cochise.
Patterns
- Cochise and his warriors
- Chief Cochise
Cochise led his band in defending Apache land in what is now Arizona.
Historians say Cochise agreed to a peace treaty in 1872.
The history teacher asked us to write a short report on Cochise.
proper nounproperAmerican
The name of places in the American Southwest that honor this leader, such as Cochise County in Arizona.
Grammar: Used mainly before a noun as a place name: Cochise County, Cochise College.
Patterns
- Cochise County
- Cochise Stronghold
We drove through Cochise County on the way to Tombstone.
The campsite near Cochise Stronghold offers views of the canyon.
Common combinations
- Cochise County
- Cochise County lies in the southeastern corner of Arizona.
- Cochise Stronghold
- Hikers can reach the Cochise Stronghold from a forest road.
- Chief Cochise
- Chief Cochise is remembered as a skilled strategist.
- Cochise and Geronimo
- A museum display compared Cochise and Geronimo as Apache leaders.
Word family
- Chiricahua proper noun
- the Apache group to which Cochise belonged, and the name of mountains in Arizona
- Apache proper noun
- a group of Native American peoples of the Southwest
Commonly confused: Cochise or Geronimo?
Cochise vs Geronimo
Geronimo was a different Chiricahua Apache leader who fought later, in the 1880s. Cochise belonged to an earlier generation and died in 1874.
Practice
Cochise is best described as which of the following?
Choose one answer.
Cochise was a Chiricahua Apache leader of the 1800s. The other options describe different kinds of historical figures and do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Cochise”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.