Maliseet

American  

[mal-uh-seet] / ˈmæl əˌsit /

Also Malecite

noun

• Maliseets,
  plural
• Maliseet
  plural

1. Also called Wolastoqiyik. a member of an Indigenous people of southern and western New Brunswick and northern Maine.

2. Also called Wolastoqey. the Eastern Algonquian language of the Maliseet, mutually intelligible with Passamaquoddy.

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adjective

1. Sometimes Offensive. Also Wolastoqi of or relating to the Maliseet or their language.

Maliseet British  

/ ˈmælɪˌsiːt /

noun

1. a member of a Native Canadian people of New Brunswick and E Quebec

2. the Algonquian language of this people

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Sensitivity

The word Maliseet comes from a Mi’kmaq word meaning “he speaks slowly; he speaks unintelligibly.” Because of this word origin, and because Maliseet is not this people's own name for themselves, the term is sometimes considered offensive. The group's self-designation is Wolastoqiyik, and their language is called Wolastoqey.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Maliseet
  plural
• Maliseets
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of Maliseet

First recorded in 1740–50; earlier Malecite, from French Malécite, from Mi'kmaq mali⋅sit “he speaks slowly; he speaks unintelligibly”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Maliseet Maliseets

That settlement for the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot and Maliseet, along with a 1991 agreement for the Mi’kmaq, put the tribes in Maine on a different path from others elsewhere in the country.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 21, 2023

That settlement for the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot and Maliseet, along with a 1991 agreement for the Mi’kmaq, put the tribes in Maine on a different path from tribes elsewhere across the country.

From Washington Times ● May 31, 2023

Yet in our recent study, we found the Wabanaki Nations in Maine – Maliseet, Mi'kmaq, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot – and their 9,546 citizens have been left out of this progress.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2023

Greenlaw, a Maliseet forestry scientist working on her PhD at the University of Maine, is at the forefront of the effort to protect the state’s brown ash.

From The Verge ● Nov. 25, 2019

Michael Francklin continued to the last to cultivate the friendship of Pierre Thoma the old Maliseet chieftain whose descendants, it may be observed, are numerous at the present day.

From Glimpses of the Past History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784 by W. O. (William Odber) Raymond

The younger Pierre Thoma was most probably his father’s successor as chief of the Maliseets.

From Glimpses of the Past History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784 by W. O. (William Odber) Raymond

Michael Francklin in his interview with the Maliseets at Fort Howe in September, 1778, assured them that Mons’r.

From Glimpses of the Past History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784 by W. O. (William Odber) Raymond

Since the coming of the whites the Maliseets have had few quarrels with the neighboring tribes of Indians.

From Glimpses of the Past History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784 by W. O. (William Odber) Raymond

To this simple native eloquence the commissioners felt they had no fitting reply, and for the time being the Maliseets remained undisturbed.

From Glimpses of the Past History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784 by W. O. (William Odber) Raymond

Recently Father Loverja had come to stay with the Maliseets of Medoctec in consequence of their urgent request for a missionary, their village being eighteen leagues from Aukpaque, where Father Germain was stationed.

From Glimpses of the Past History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784 by W. O. (William Odber) Raymond

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