Erie

American  

[eer-ee] / ˈɪər i /

noun

Eries, plural Erie plural

1. Lake, a lake between the NE central United States and SE central Canada: the southernmost lake of the Great Lakes; site of the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813 in which Commodore Perry defeated the British. 239 miles (385 km) long; 9,940 sq. mi. (25,745 sq. km).

2. a port in NW Pennsylvania, on Lake Erie.

3. a member of a tribe of American Indians formerly living along the southern shore of Lake Erie.

---

Erie ¹ British  

/ ˈɪərɪ /

noun

1. a member of a North American Indian people formerly living south of Lake Erie

2. the language of this people, possibly belonging to the Iroquoian family

---

Erie ² British  

/ ˈɪərɪ /

noun

1. a lake between the US and Canada: the southernmost and the shallowest of the Great Lakes; empties by the Niagara River into Lake Ontario. Area: 25 718 sq km (9930 sq miles)

2. a port in NW Pennsylvania, on Lake Erie. Pop: 101 373 (2003 est)

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Erie
  plural
• Eries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Erie

From Erie (an Iroquoian language) Erie, Eriez, shortening of Erielhonan “long tail” (the Erie were called the Cat People, referring to the cougar)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Erie Eries

This six-part series roves from the construction of the Erie Canal to the Donner Party in telling the obstacle-filled story of American development and expansion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

Alam was in the country legally, but he had been detained for almost a year in the Erie County jail and released on a misdemeanor plea deal.

From Salon ● Mar. 3, 2026

But when the New York & Erie Railroad created the first business org chart in the 1850s, capturing the complexity of the railroad’s signaling and communications, it resembled a tree.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026

During the warm months, Lake Erie becomes an ideal setting for cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, to grow rapidly.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 2, 2025

“It is almost impossible for a man who enjoys freedom with all its prerogatives, to realize what it means to be deprived of that freedom.”—Said by Erie Stanley Gardner.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

“This aquifer, they estimate, contains eight Lake Eries of water, and they have already nearly depleted one. It’s like draining the Great Lakes, but we don’t see it.”

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 11, 2016

With the singular laugh, which was between a hiss and a roar, the Spirit replied by asking: "How know ye that I have delivered you into the toils of your fierce enemies, the Eries?"

From Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 3 by Jones, James Athearn

When about 1651 the Iroquois had vanquished the Eries and the "Neutral Nation," they offered to adopt them into the league on equal terms.

From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Engels, Friedrich

He supposes the discovery of America to have taken place during the reign of the thirteenth Atotarho; and he adds that the conquest and dispersion of the Eries occurred "about this time."

From The Iroquois Book of Rites by Hale, Horatio

Their real interest lay in peaceful relations with the Dutch and the English; the French were their logical enemies; and when the Iroquois had finished with the Eries their insolence quickly showed itself once more.

From Crusaders of New France A Chronicle of the Fleur-de-Lis in the Wilderness Chronicles of America, Volume 4 by Munro, William Bennett