Mahican

American  

[muh-hee-kuhn] / məˈhi kən /

noun

plural

Mahicans,

plural

Mahican

1. a tribe or confederacy of North American Indians of the Algonquian family, centralized formerly in the upper Hudson valley.

2. a member of this tribe or confederacy.

3. the extinct Algonquian language of the Mahican Indians.

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Mahican British  

/ məˈhiːkən /

noun

1. a variant of Mohican

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Etymology

Origin of Mahican

First recorded in 1605–15; self-designation of the Mahican people; literally, “person (people) of the tidal estuary (of the Hudson River)”; cognate with Munsee Delaware ma·hí·kan; compare -a·hi·kan in kihta·hí·kan “ocean,” with kiht- “great”); the spelling variant Mohican was popularized by James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans (1826)

Example Sentences

Two years later, a Mahican Indian chose another Empire State location for his own Fourth of July speech.

From Salon • Jul. 4, 2014

The Mahican Village at the mouth of the creek was called Nappechemak.

From The Hudson Three Centuries of History, Romance and Invention by Bruce, Wallace

The Mahican Tribe originally occupied all the east bank of the Hudson north of Roeliffe Jansen's Kill, near Germantown, to the head waters of the Hudson; and on the west bank, from Cohoes to Catskill.

From The Hudson Three Centuries of History, Romance and Invention by Bruce, Wallace

An old Mahican settlement known as Potick was located a little back from the river.

From The Hudson Three Centuries of History, Romance and Invention by Bruce, Wallace