The Entiat River is a tributary of the Columbia River, joining the Columbia near Entiat. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) lists two variant names for the Entiat River: "En-ti-at-kwa River" and "Entiatqua River". The river's name is derived from the Columbia-Moses (Salishan) term /nt'yátkw/ [nt'iátkw], meaning "place of grassy water"; another source states that it was called "Enteatqua" which means "Rapid Water" or "Rushing Water." The name, spelled "Entiat", was selected for the river in 1958 by the Chelan County Public Utility District.