Algonquian
Americannoun
plural
Algonquians,plural
Algonquian-
a family of languages spoken now or formerly by North American Indians in an area extending from Labrador westward to the Rocky Mountains, west-southwestward through Michigan and Illinois, and southwestward along the Atlantic coast to Cape Hatteras, including especially Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Cree, Fox, Massachusett, Mi'kmaq, Ojibwe, and Powhatan.
-
a member of an Algonquian-speaking tribe.
adjective
noun
-
a family of North American Indian languages whose speakers ranged over an area stretching from the Atlantic between Newfoundland and Delaware to the Rocky Mountains, including Micmac, Mahican, Ojibwa, Fox, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, and Shawnee. Some linguists relate it to Muskogean in a Macro-Algonquian phylum
-
a member of any of the North American Indian peoples that speak one of these languages
adjective
Etymology
Origin of Algonquian
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90; Algonqui(n) + -an
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In fact, Moodus is short for “Machimoodus” or “Mackimoodus,” which means “place of bad noises” in the Algonquian dialects once spoken in the area.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 7, 2024
Among the Powhatan-speaking Algonquian tribes of Virginia, the trees are opomens.
From Salon • Dec. 18, 2023
Its name is thought to come from Algonquian tribes in North America, with June being the month when strawberries begin to ripen for picking.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2023
The Blackfeet so venerated beavers’ water-creating abilities that they forbade killing them, and some Algonquian tribes consider the Great Beaver responsible for molding the Connecticut River Valley.
From Scientific American • Dec. 1, 2022
I listen hard to understand the Algonquian words.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
