Abenaki

[ uh-ben-uh-kee; English ab-uh-nak-ee, ah-buh-nah-kee ]

noun

, plural A·be·na·kis, (especially collectively) A·be·na·ki

1. a member of a grouping of Indigenous peoples of southern Quebec, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and parts of northern Massachusetts.
2. any of the Eastern Algonquian languages of the Abenaki peoples.

adjective

1. of or relating to the Abenaki or their language.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Abenaki¹

First recorded in 1690–1700; from French Abenaqui, Abenaki, from Eastern Abenaki ( Penobscot ) wapánahki or Western Abenaki wɔ̃banakii, literally, “people of the dawn land, easterners,” a self-designation

Example Sentences

He was Abenaki by his mother; but he was absent when the attack took place, and the marauders seem to have shed no blood.

From Project Gutenberg

He had the gift of tongues, and was as familiar with the Abenaki and several other Indian languages as he was with Latin.

From Project Gutenberg

On the banks of this erratic stream lived an Abenaki tribe called the Sokokis.

From Project Gutenberg

I advise you to pull down all the forts you have built on the Abenaki lands since the Peace of Utrecht.

From Project Gutenberg

English activity alarmed the Abenaki and the French soon influenced them to go on the warpath.

From Project Gutenberg