Oneida

American  

[oh-nahy-duh] / oʊˈnaɪ də /

noun

plural

Oneidas,

plural

Oneida

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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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

Example Sentences

Ernie Stevens Sr. was also revered in Indian country, with leadership roles in places like Oneida, Navajo Nation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 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

Less than 24 hours later, two uniformed service members showed up on the doorstep of Oneida and Shawn Sanders in the small town of Waycross, Ga.

From New York Times • May 27, 2024

It was heavily plagiarized from a work written thirty years earlier by the Oneida Community’s founder.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow