Mahican

[ muh-hee-kuhn ]

noun

, plural Ma·hi·cans, (especially collectively) Ma·hi·can

1. a tribe or confederacy of North American Indians of the Algonquian family, centralized formerly in the upper Hudson valley.
2. a member of this tribe or confederacy.
3. the extinct Algonquian language of the Mahican Indians.

Mahican

/ məˈhiːkən /

noun

1. a variant of Mohican

Word History and Origins

Origin of Mahican¹

First recorded in 1605–15; self-designation of the Mahican people; literally, “person (people) of the tidal estuary (of the Hudson River)”; cognate with Munsee Delaware ma·hí·kan; compare -a·hi·kan in kihta·hí·kan “ocean,” with kiht- “great”); the spelling variant Mohican was popularized by James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans (1826)

Example Sentences

A menacing dark gunmetal 80s overcoat with minimalist cinched waist, big black boots and a model with a punk Mahican began the show.

From Washington Times

A menacing dark gunmetal 80s overcoat with minimalist cinched waist, big black boots and a model with a punk Mahican began the show.

From Seattle Times

Thrush details some remarkable scenes from 1800s London: A manager at a performance of Macbeth forcing four Mohawk and Mahican kings to sit on the stage so that curious Londoners could watch them watching Shakespeare.

From Seattle Times

Two years later, a Mahican Indian chose another Empire State location for his own Fourth of July speech.

From Salon

The Sanderses enlist the aid of Treece, a huge Mahican Indian, to help them salvage the booty and thwart the Mob.

From Time Magazine Archive