Hiawatha

[ hahy-uh-woth-uh, -waw-thuh, hee-uh- ]

noun
  1. the central figure of The Song of Hiawatha (1855), a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: named after a legendary Indian chief, fl. c1570.

Words Nearby Hiawatha

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Hiawatha in a sentence

  • Wabasso, as Hiawatha named him, had not attained to this length of years without encountering blackcats.

    Wild Folk | Samuel Scoville

British Dictionary definitions for Hiawatha

Hiawatha

/ (ˌhaɪəˈwɒθə) /


noun
  1. a 16th-century Onondaga Indian chief: credited with the organization of the Five Nations

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

Cultural definitions for Hiawatha

Hiawatha

[ (heye-uh-woth-uh) ]


An actual Native American chief of the sixteenth century. In legends, he is the husband of Minnehaha. He urged peace between his people and the European settlers.

Notes for Hiawatha

The legend of Hiawatha is best known through the poem “The Song of Hiawatha,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.