Algonquian

[ al-gong-kee-uhn, -kwee-uhn ]

/ ælˈgɒŋ ki ən, -kwi ən /

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noun, plural Al·gon·qui·ans, (especially collectively) Al·gon·qui·an for 2.

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

of or relating to Algonquian or its speakers.

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Also Algonkian, Algonkin, Algonquin .

Origin of Algonquian

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90; Algonqui(n) + -an

Words nearby Algonquian

algolagnia, algology, algometer, Algonkian, Algonkin, Algonquian, Algonquin, Algonquin Park, algophagous, algophobia, algor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Algonquian in a sentence

These, with the exception of the Winnebago, were Algonquian tribes.
Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi|David Ives Bushnell
This is illustrated further by the Musquakies, also belonging to the Algonquian stock.
The Truth About Woman|C. Gasquoine Hartley
It was bounded on the northwest, north, northeast, and for some distance on the east by Algonquian territory.
Indian Linguistic Families Of America, North Of Mexico|John Wesley Powell
Its derivation has been attributed to an Algonquian term signifying "swamp" or "open marshy land."
Revolutionary Reader|Sophie Lee Foster

The Algonquian believed in a great serpent in the Great Lakes which raised storms, and destroyed canoes.
Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, v. 23|Various

British Dictionary definitions for Algonquian

Algonquian

Algonkian

/ (ælˈɡɒŋkɪən, -kwɪ-) /

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

plural -ans or -an a member of any of the North American Indian peoples that speak one of these languages

adjective

denoting, belonging to, or relating to this linguistic family or its speakers

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012