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 Seattle Times

The Bronx River was once a pristine waterway fished by the Mahicans, Native Americans who lived near its banks.

From Washington Post

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

Catskill was the southern boundary of the Mahicans on the west bank, and here they set up their emblem.

From Project Gutenberg