Caledonian

American

[kal-i-doh-nee-uhn] / ˌkæl ɪˈdoʊ ni ən /

noun

a native or inhabitant of Caledonia.

adjective

of or relating to Caledonia.

Caledonian British

/ ˌkælɪˈdəʊnɪən /

adjective

of or relating to Scotland
of or denoting a period of mountain building in NW Europe in the Palaeozoic era

"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

noun

literary a native or inhabitant of Scotland

"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

Etymology

Origin of Caledonian

First recorded in 1900–05; Caledoni(a) + -an

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:

Caledonian

If you compare the smartest nonhuman animal, the chimpanzee, to what Mr. Lefebvre regards as the smartest bird, the New Caledonian crow, chimps emerge on top.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

Network Rail said Caledonian Sleeper services will resume and serve Platform 11.

From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026

Caledonian MacBrayne has reported disruption on the vast majority of its routes.

From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026

The truth is that Scotland’s qualification owes as much to Caledonian grit as it does to Swiss bureaucracy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025

Perhaps Your Caledonian Excellency might put them to use.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023