Oneida

American  

[oh-nahy-duh] / oʊˈnaɪ də /

noun

• Oneidas,
  plural
• Oneida
  plural

1. a member of an Iroquois people formerly inhabiting the region east of Oneida Lake.

2. the Iroquoian language spoken by the Oneida Indians.

3. a city in central New York.

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Oneida British  

/ əʊˈnaɪdə /

noun

1. a lake in central New York State: part of the New York State Barge Canal system. Length: about 35 km (22 miles). Greatest width: 9 km (6 miles)

2. (functioning as plural) a North American Indian people formerly living east of Lake Ontario; one of the Iroquois peoples

3. a member of this people

4. the language of this people, belonging to the Iroquoian family

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Oneida
  plural
• Oneidas
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of Oneida

From the Oneida word onę·yóteʔ erected stone, the name of the main Oneida settlement, at successive locations, near which, traditionally, a large syenite boulder always appeared

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Oneida Oneidas

So the author heads to the Oneida Nation’s spring festival, where Doris Wilkins-Wilt and Ron Patterson, historians at the Shako:wi Cultural Center, explain Oneida history to Mr. Baxter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

He was a member of the Oneida Nation, part of the Six Nations Reserve in southern Ontario.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2025

You begin with John Humphrey Noyes, founder of the Oneida Community, a utopian religious group in the mid-19th century.

From Salon ● May 26, 2025

“He told me how they had been living. I said, ‘You go back to school and tell them what happened,’” said Oneida Williams, 85.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2024

It was made up of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk Nations and was later joined by the Tuscaroras.

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

Ranged across what is now upstate New York, the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas had recently forged a “covenant chain” of alliance with several English colonies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Colgate University in November returned more than 1,500 items that the Oneidas had buried with their dead as far back as 400 years ago.

From Washington Times ● May 15, 2023

Colgate University in November returned to the Oneidas more than 1,500 items once buried with ancestral remains, some dating back 400 years.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 22, 2023

The Oneidas once held six million acres in New York, but agreed to a treaty ceding nearly all their land to the state.

From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2022

This Christian settlement was started by the temporary sojourn at La Prairie of several Oneidas and Mohawks, who had been on a visit to Quebec and Montreal.

From The Life and Times of Kateri Tekakwitha The Lily of the Mohawks by Ellen H. Walworth

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