Amish

[ah-mish, am-ish]

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.

Origin of Amish

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for amish

Contemporary Examples of amish

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
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
[The Amish] are completely cut off from the outside world.
McCain's Last Hope: The Amish Vote
Benjamin Sarlin
October 28, 2008
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

Historical Examples of amish

Self-sufficiency, reflecting contexts of existence of limited scale, marks the Amish and Mennonite families.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin
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
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
Some time after attending this meeting I called upon an aged Amish man to converse with him upon their religious society, etc.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science
Various

British Dictionary definitions for amish

Amish

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

Word Origin and History for amish

Amish

adj.

1844, American English, from the name of Jacob Amman, 17c. Swiss Mennonite preacher who founded the sect. Originally spelled Omish, which reflects the pronunciation in Pennsylvania German dialect. As a noun, by 1884.

amish in Culture

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.

Note

Some of the Pennsylvania Dutch are Amish.