Name Origin
The name Penticton is derived from a word in the Western Salish. It is conventionally translated by the city's tourism promoters as "a place to stay forever" but is actually a reference to the year-round flow of the Okanagan Lake through Penticton where it enters Skaha Lake. Differing accounts of the meaning are given in the British Columbia Geographical Names Information System entry for the city:
"Place where water passes beyond." (information from Isaac Harris, published in Vernon News, 18 July 1918); compare with: "Derived from the Okanagan dialect of the Salish tribe, the word Pen-tak-tin meaning 'a place of permanent abode where waters pass by'." (50th Anniversary booklet of Penticton, 1958) From the Indian name Pente-hik-ton, "ever" or "forever" referring to the constant steady flow of the Okanagan River out of the lake.... applied by the Indians to the locality at the outlet of the lake, meaning that the stream ran on ever, or forever, in contrast to other streams which dried up during the summer (6th Report of the Okanagan Historical Society); compare with: "Derives from the Okanagan word Sin-peen-tick-tin, loosely translatable as 'permanent place'." (c1980 advice from Randy Bouchard, BC Indian Language Project).
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