Shawnee

[ shaw-nee ]

noun

, plural Shaw·nees, (especially collectively) Shaw·nee.

1. a member of an Algonquian-speaking tribe formerly in the east-central U.S., now in Oklahoma.
2. the Algonquian language of the Shawnee tribe.
3. a town in E Kansas.
4. a city in central Oklahoma.

Shawnee

/ ʃɔːˈniː /

noun

1. -nees-nee a member of a North American Indian people formerly living along the Tennessee River
2. the language of this people, belonging to the Algonquian family

Word History and Origins

Origin of Shawnee¹

1720–30, Americanism; back formation from earlier Shawnese, Shawanese (construed as plural), reshaping (with -ese ) of earlier Shawanoes (plural) < Munsee Delaware šá·wano·w (singular) < Shawnee ša·wano·ki Shawnees, literally, people of the south

Word History and Origins

Origin of Shawnee¹

C20: back formation from obsolete Shawnese, from Shawnee Shaawanwaaki people of the south, from shaawanawa south

Example Sentences

A Shawnee County District Court judge had earlier rejected the groups’ request for an emergency injunction, saying that impersonation of a public official is not protected speech.

From Seattle Times

And when chiseled turkey bones were unearthed on Tennessee land once inhabited by the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Shawnee and Yuchi peoples, archaeologists weren’t sure if they were for tattooing, medicinal uses or leatherworking.

From Los Angeles Times

In Shawnee, Oklahoma, lawmakers passed an ordinance last year to penalize the feeding of homeless people in its downtown.

From Seattle Times

But Kobach didn’t cite Kansas law in his letters to the state school boards association, the Topeka school district and the Kansas City, Shawnee Mission and Olathe school districts in the Kansas City area.

From Seattle Times

But leaders of the Shawnee Tribe and the Eastern Shawnees, both now based in Oklahoma, like the Delawares, said they hadn’t had any discussions about it.

From Seattle Times