Scots

American  

[skots] / skɒts /

noun

1. Also called Scottish.  the English language as spoken in Scotland.

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adjective

1. Scottish.

Scots British  

/ skɒts /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Scotland, its people, their English dialects, or their Gaelic language

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noun

1. any of the English dialects spoken or written in Scotland See also Lallans

Commonly Confused

See Scotch.

Etymology

Origin of Scots

1325–75; syncopated form of Scottis, Middle English, variant (north) of Scottish

Example Sentences

So, when the Scots were also offered a friendly against Ivory Coast, from the same confederation as another of their Group C foes, Morocco, the final bit of their preparation jigsaw was in place.

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

Their plan was good in theory: The Scots would carve a route across Panama and control trade between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

McArthur accused those who rejected the bill of a "woefully inadequate response to the suffering and trauma experienced by dying Scots and their families".

From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026

There are still plenty of American things Scots wouldn’t be caught dead doing, Johnston said, including overdoing the Cotswolds fashion, calling daytime parties “darties” and celebrating St. Patrick’s Day harder than the Irish do.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026

In addition to serving as presidents, educators, and businessmen, the Ulster Scots instilled in mainstream US culture a strong set of Calvinism’s individualist values.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz