Ottawa

American  

[ot-uh-wuh] / ˈɒt ə wə /

noun

Ottawas, plural Ottawa plural

1. a city in and the capital of Canada, in southeastern Ontario.

2. a river in southeastern Canada, flowing southeast along the boundary between Ontario and Quebec into the St. Lawrence River at Montreal. 685 miles (1,105 kilometers) long.

3. a city in northeastern Illinois, southwest of Chicago.

4. a town in eastern Kansas.

5. Also called Odawa.  a member of a tribe of Algonquian people of Canada, forced into the Lake Superior and Lake Michigan regions by the Iroquois confederacy.

6. Also called Odawa.  the Ojibwe language as used by the Ottawa.

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Ottawa British  

/ ˈɒtəwə /

noun

1. the capital of Canada, in E Ontario on the Ottawa River: name changed from Bytown to Ottawa in 1854. Pop: 774 072 (2001)

2. a river in central Canada, rising in W Quebec and flowing west, then southeast to join the St Lawrence River as its chief tributary at Montreal; forms the border between Quebec and Ontario for most of its length. Length: 1120 km (696 miles)

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Ottawa Cultural  

1. Capital of Canada, located in southeastern Ontario across the Ottawa River from Quebec.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Ottawa
  plural
• Ottawas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Ottawa

First recorded in 1660–70; from French Outaouan, or directly from Ojibwe Ota·wa· “traders”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Ottawa Ottawas

In Ottawa, the federal capital of Canada, and Toronto, highs are expected to reach 100.4F on Tuesday, with temperatures feeling even hotter because of high humidity levels.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

Canada’s announcement came hours after a senior Michigan Republican told Detroit’s WJR radio that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had informed him a resolution between Washington and Ottawa was in the offing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026

"It's a year of pressures on Canadian national unity," said André Lecours, a political science professor at the University of Ottawa.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

Instead of conducting a new experiment, researchers led by Bassam Jeryous Fares of the University of Ottawa analyzed existing research.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 30, 2026

This was exemplified quite well by the map in the Ottawa office of Vice-Co-ordinator Hiram Mackenzie, in which the North Pole was centered.

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov

The French, aided by the Potawotomis, Ottawas, Shawnees, and Delawares, ambushed the fifteen hundred British soldiers and Virginia militia who marched to the fort.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 30, 2014

By the Ottawas I am called "Little Crane."

From Time Magazine Archive

At the next meeting, the Ottawas expressed a readiness to concur with the views of the Ojibwas.

From The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada by Parkman, Francis

The194 Ottawas had no political connection with the Wyandots, who speak a language radically distinct.

From The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada by Parkman, Francis

In his company were his servant and several Hurons who had come to trade with the Ottawas.

From Stories of the Badger State by Thwaites, Reuben Gold