Amish

[ ah-mish, am-ish ]

/ ˈɑ mɪʃ, ˈæm ɪʃ /

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adjective

of or relating to any of the strict Mennonite groups, chiefly in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Canada, descended from the followers of Jakob Ammann, a Swiss Mennonite bishop of the 17th century.

noun

the Amish people.

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Origin of Amish

1835–45, Americanism;<German amisch, after Jakob Ammann; see -ish¹

Words nearby Amish

amiodarone, amiodarone hydrochloride, amir, amirite, Amis, Amish, amiss, A miss is as good as a mile, Amitābha, amitate, amitosis

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use Amish in a sentence

The butter is Kerrygold, from the milk of grass-fed cows in Ireland, the vegetables from Path Valley Farms in Pennsylvania, an Amish co-op tapped by some of Washington’s top restaurants.
Mattie & Eddie’s channels the Irish spirit of a veteran chef’s grandparents|Tom Sietsema|May 21, 2021|Washington Post
We’d walked the railroad tracks from Washington to Baltimore to Philly and then turned west at the Main Line and made Amish country by winter.
Sebastian Junger on Walking America’s Railroads|Sebastian Junger|May 19, 2021|Outside Online
Today, Amish women wearing traditional bonnets serve fresh-baked pies steps away from a stand of Middle Eastern foods and another selling mozzarella cheese made from local goat’s milk.
The Free Market is Dead: What Will Replace It?|Chris Hughes|April 26, 2021|Time
The first time I went, I rode in the passenger seat of Andy’s car, down the winding rural roads of Amish country.
Mushroom Hunting at the End of the World|Danny Palumbo|November 12, 2020|Eater

We found respite on flat roads separating cornfields, which we shared with Amish horse-drawn buggies.
How Biking Across America Formed an Unlikely Friendship|Raffi Joe Wartanian|October 8, 2020|Outside Online
Your movies have tackled subjects like Amish bowling, the Special Olympics, and conjoined twins—but never midlife crisis before.
Interview With Hall Pass Directors Farrelly Brothers|Chris Lee|February 22, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Last summer, Palin joined members of Jews for Sarah in Pennsylvania Amish country for a traditional Sabbath celebration.
'Jews for Sarah' Rally Around|Shushannah Walshe, Samuel P. Jacobs|January 12, 2011|DAILY BEAST
[The Amish] are completely cut off from the outside world.
McCain's Last Hope: The Amish Vote|Benjamin Sarlin|October 28, 2008|DAILY BEAST
John McCain may have one last, best hope for winning the White House: the Amish.
McCain's Last Hope: The Amish Vote|Benjamin Sarlin|October 28, 2008|DAILY BEAST
Aaron has flirted with our century; he and his wife learned some very un-Amish skills at the Homestead School.
Blind Man's Lantern|Allen Kim Lang
The skill that makes Aaron worth his fare out here, though, is an Amish skill, and the rarest one of all.
Blind Man's Lantern|Allen Kim Lang
Five years from spring, other Amish folk would come to homestead—what a barn-raising they'd have!
Blind Man's Lantern|Allen Kim Lang
This confection was embossed with a hundred intricate designs, rich with silver; un-Amish as a Christmas tree.
Blind Man's Lantern|Allen Kim Lang
Though American enough, maize had been a foreigner to the first Amish farmers, and still carried history in its name.
Blind Man's Lantern|Allen Kim Lang

British Dictionary definitions for Amish

Amish

/ (ˈɑːmɪʃ, ˈæ-) /

adjective

of or relating to a US and Canadian Mennonite sect that traces its origin to Jakob Amman

noun

the Amish the Amish people

Word Origin for Amish

C19: from German Amisch, after Jakob Amman, 17th-century Swiss Mennonite bishop

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

Cultural definitions for Amish

Amish

[ (ah-mish, am-ish, ay-mish) ]

A group of Protestants who broke away from the Mennonites in the seventeenth century. The Amish live in close communities, farm for a living, and do without many modern conveniences, such as telephones, automobiles, and tractor-drawn plows.

notes for Amish

Some of the Pennsylvania Dutch are Amish.