Cayuga

[ key-yoo-guh, kahy- ]

noun

, plural Ca·yu·gas, (especially collectively) Ca·yu·ga.

1. a member of a tribe of North American Indians, the smallest tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy.
2. the dialect of the Seneca language spoken by the Cayuga.
3. Also called Cayuga duck. one of an American breed of domestic ducks having black plumage.

Cayuga

/ keɪˈjuːɡə; kaɪ- /

noun

1. -gas-ga a member of a Native American people (one of the Iroquois peoples) formerly living around Cayuga Lake
2. the language of this people, belonging to the Iroquoian family

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cayuga¹

1735–45, Americanism; < Cayuga *kayo·kwę, name of a 17th-century village; compare Cayuga kayokwęhó˙nǫʔ Cayuga (people) (or < a related form in another N Iroquoian language)

Example Sentences

“It didn’t make sense because you use them once and throw them out,” said Hans Pfister, the president and co-founder of Cayuga Collection, the hotel group that manages the resort, which took housekeeping’s advice.

From New York Times

New York’s Cayuga Lake Wine Trail is promoting “Sips to the Eclipse” for the weekend ahead of April 8.

From Seattle Times

In 2023, the former Cedar View Golf course, on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake in upstate New York, was bought by the Finger Lakes Land Trust.

From Seattle Times

Cayuga – the only Federation vessel orbiting an unaffiliated colony when the Gorn attack it.

From Salon

Bulldozing and claims of kidnapping: The Cayuga Nation, a tribe in upstate New York, is at war with itself.

From New York Times