Algonquin
Americannoun
-
Algonquins,
plural
-
Algonquin
plural
-
a member of a group of North American Indian tribes formerly along the Ottawa River and the northern tributaries of the St. Lawrence River.
-
their speech, a dialect of Ojibwe, of the Algonquian family of languages.
adjective
noun
-
a member of a North American Indian people formerly living along the St Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers in Canada
-
the language of this people, a dialect of Ojibwa
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Algonquin
First recorded in 1615–25; from French; earlier Algoumequin, presumably from an Algonquian language
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.
See Examples For:
Gain insight Algonquin Power, Enbridge and more in the latest Market Talks covering energy and utilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Algonquin Power shares gained 1.3% in 2026 and 22% over the past 12 months, outperforming the S&P 500.
From Barron's ● Apr. 2, 2026
A theme of this brief royal visit has been paying respects to the First Nations people and the King noted that Parliament was meeting on the territory of the Algonquin people.
From BBC ● May 27, 2025
Some scholars believe the now-offensive term originated from the Algonquin language, which was spoken by many tribes on the East Coast, and originally meant “woman,” but was later corrupted by European colonists.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2024
Toward the end of his life he called me several times in New York and we would have lunch at the Algonquin.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
The French further reinforced their alliance with the Algonquins by providing them with weapons, which they used in their wars with rival Iroquoian-speaking tribes and with Dutch and English settlers.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
Algonquins in the northeastern United States called it the corn moon, “as this was the time for gathering their main staple crops of corn, pumpkins, squash, beans and wild rice,” according to NASA.
From New York Times ● Sep. 10, 2022
For the Algonquins on the Rapid Lake reserve, the priority is getting the federal and provincial governments to honour a trilateral deal struck in 1991.
From Economist ● Jun. 29, 2017
In 1663 appeared Eliot's masterwork: a translation of the whole Bible into the Massachusetts dialect of the Algonquins.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Algonquins had named the territory he lived in Great Water, michi garni.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
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.
