Seneca

¹ American  

[sen-i-kuh] / ˈsɛn ɪ kə /

noun

plural

Senecas,

plural

Seneca

1. a member of the largest tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy of North American Indians, formerly inhabiting western New York and being conspicuous in the wars south and west of Lake Erie.

2. an Iroquoian language of the Seneca, Onondaga, and Cayuga tribes.

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Seneca ² American  

[sen-i-kuh] / ˈsɛn ɪ kə /

noun

1. Lucius Annaeus c4 b.c.–a.d. 65, Roman philosopher and writer of tragedies.

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Seneca ¹ British  

/ ˈsɛnɪkə /

noun

1. a member of a North American Indian people formerly living south of Lake Ontario; one of the Iroquois peoples

2. the language of this people, belonging to the Iroquoian family

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Seneca ² British  

/ ˈsɛnɪkə /

noun

1. Lucius Annaeus (əˈniːəs), called the Younger. ?4 _bc –65 _ad , Roman philosopher, statesman, and dramatist; tutor and adviser to Nero. He was implicated in a plot to murder Nero and committed suicide. His works include Stoical essays on ethical subjects and tragedies that had a considerable influence on Elizabethan drama

2. his father, Marcus (ˈmɑːkəs) or Lucius Annaeus, called the Elder or the Rhetorician. ?55 _bc –?39 _ad , Roman writer on oratory and history

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Other Word Forms

• Senecan adjective

Etymology

Origin of Seneca

From the New York Dutch word Sennecaas, etc., originally applied to the Oneida and, more generally, to all the Upper Iroquois (as opposed to the Mohawk), probably < an unattested Mahican name

Example Sentences

The devotion is well-earned: Smith can quote Jefferson verbatim and cites Seneca and Enlightenment philosophers without blinking.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

Mr. Porter is a former president of the Seneca Nation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies arrived Wednesday about 3:40 p.m. at the gated Rancho Seneca apartment complex, near the 15 Freeway.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2025

Legal battles like the one in Seneca Lake are bringing home the realities of an industry that at first glance might seem contained to banks of data servers, removed from the real world.

From BBC • May 22, 2025

Then there was Sung Guo, also called Seneca Gracchus, who fought twelve Roman dragons and sixteen Chinese dragons in the western deserts of China.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan