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

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

In 1860, when he was not yet nineteen, his devout father urged him to join a religious commune in Oneida, New York, run by a man his father admired.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

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

The items being returned to the Oneidas also include glass beads, ceramic pottery, knives, harpoons and a stone pipe.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 8, 2022

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

I'm given you a hint of the thing, Panther, and you might make a sly bargain with the Oneidas, and buy up a large quantity of these lots.

From The Frontiersmen by Gustave Aimard

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