Appalachian

[ ap-uh-ley-chuhn, lach-uhn, -ley-chee-uhn, -lach-ee-uhn ]

adjective

1. of or relating to the Appalachian Mountains.
2. of or relating to the region of Appalachia, its inhabitants, or their culture.
3. Geology. of or relating to the orogeny and accompanying intrusion that occurred in eastern North America during the Pennsylvanian and Permian periods.

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Appalachia, especially one of predominantly Scotch-Irish, English, or German ancestry who exemplifies the characteristic cultural traditions of this region.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Appalachian¹

First recorded in 1670–80; from Spanish Apalchen, Apalachen, perhaps from Apalachee (an extinct Muskogean language) abalahci “other side of the river” or from Hitchiti (an extinct Muskogean language) apalwahči “dwelling on one side”; the Spanish transcription of the name of a Muskogean village near Tallahassee in the Florida panhandle, recorded on the expedition led by Pánfilo de Narváez (1478?–1528), later altered by the Spanish to Apalachee and applied to the Indian tribe, the surrounding area and the hinterland north to the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains

Example Sentences

“She was resolute when she fixed her mind on something,” said Thompson, a librarian who raised Alicia and her older sister in the Appalachian town of Lost Creek.

From Los Angeles Times

Stamper was born in 1977 and grew up in rural Kentucky, the first generation of her family to live outside of the Appalachian mountains.

From BBC

Parton donated to a nonprofit called Mountain Ways Foundation that provides flood relief across the Appalachian region.

From Salon

After making landfall at 11:25pm local time on 26 September, Helene weakened and its remnants stalled across the Appalachian mountains and Tennessee Valley.

From BBC

“He is surely too ashamed to face any of us. Judas Iscariot would have a warmer reception,” said Terra Vance, an Appalachian activist who genealogy records show shares some ancestors with the politician.

From Los Angeles Times