Iroquoian
noun
a family of North American Indian languages that includes Cherokee, Seneca, Mohawk, and Oneida.
Iroquoian
American
[ir-uh-kwoi-uhn]
/ ˌɪr əˈkwɔɪ ən /
noun
adjective
-
of, relating to, or characteristic of the Iroquois people.
-
of or belonging to the Iroquoian family of languages.
iroquoian
British
/ ˌɪrəˈkwɔɪən /
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of Iroquoian
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.
It is derived from an Iroquoian word commonly translated as “lake of shining waters.”
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
In 1758, the Shawnee tribe, the Delaware tribe, and the powerful Iroquoian Confederacy agreed to ally with the English in exchange for their promise to respect Indigenous rights to contested lands on the frontier.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
To illustrate this concept, Snyder points to the story of the Westo Indians, a group originally from around Lake Erie, who spoke an Iroquoian language.
From Slate ● Jan. 18, 2016
In the eastern part of this territory was an area occupied by Iroquoian tribes, surrounded on almost all sides by their Algonquian neighbors.
From Indian Linguistic Families Of America, North Of Mexico Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 1-142 by John Wesley Powell
This testimony is further strengthened by the linguistic evidence, as it has been ascertained that the language of this tribe belongs to the Iroquoian stock.
From The Problem of the Ohio Mounds by Cyrus Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
