Dakota

American  

[duh-koh-tuh] / dəˈkoʊ tə /

noun

• Dakotas
  plural

1. a former territory in the United States: divided into the states of North Dakota and South Dakota in 1889.

2. North Dakota or South Dakota.

3. the Dakotas, North Dakota and South Dakota.

4. Also called Sioux. a member of the largest tribe of the Siouan stock of North American Indians, who originally occupied Minnesota and Wisconsin and later migrated westward to the Great Plains.

5. Santee.

6. a Siouan language spoken by the Dakota and Assiniboin Indians.

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Dakota British  

/ dəˈkəʊtə /

noun

1. a former territory of the US: divided into the states of North Dakota and South Dakota in 1889

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Dakotan
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Dakotas
  plural

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Dakota Dakotas

An Air Force brat born in North Dakota, Paxton first moved to Texas in 1981 to attend Baylor University and later worked at a Dallas law firm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Watch an unhinged new thriller: Verity, starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett, brings Colleen Hoover’s most bonkers book to the big screen.

From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026

Swift used the occasion to premiere the video for her new single "Patient Zero," which stars actors Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

The 36-year-old also debuted the music video for her new song Patient Zero - starring actors Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson - during the Los Angeles ceremony, hosted by rapper Snoop Dogg.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

“The thing is, I spend most of my time in the Underworld. So unless I met you there somehow—” Dakota belched.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

The fact that Morès was neighbors with Teddy Roosevelt out in the Dakotas is such an interesting historical coincidence.

From Slate ● Mar. 2, 2026

Visiting prosecutors from Michigan, Wisconsin, the Dakotas and elsewhere have stepped in to fill the void.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026

"The Naashoibito dinosaurs lived at the same time as the famous Hell Creek species in Montana and the Dakotas," said Daniel Peppe, Ph.D., associate professor of geosciences at Baylor University.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2025

Data center developers are working in Alabama, the Dakotas and Indiana, “traditionally states that wouldn’t have data centers,” Eades said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024

Charlie said he didn’t see how he could get away to the Dakotas until the corn was shucked.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

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