Pocahontas

American  

[poh-kuh-hon-tuhs] / ˌpoʊ kəˈhɒn təs /

noun

1. Rebecca Rolfe, 1595?–1617, American Indian woman who is said to have prevented the execution of Captain John Smith.

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Pocahontas British  

/ ˌpɒkəˈhɒntəs /

noun

1. original name Matoaka; married name Rebecca Rolfe. ?1595–1617, American Indian, who allegedly saved the colonist Captain John Smith from being killed

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Pocahontas Cultural  

1. A Native American princess of the seventeenth century who befriended Captain John Smith of Virginia. She is said to have thrown herself upon him to prevent his execution by her father, Powhatan. She later married one of the Virginian settlers and traveled to England with him.

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Example Sentences

“I grow these peanuts,” said Baltz, who runs a 4,000-acre peanut, rice, soy and corn farm in Pocahontas, Ark.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

She’s also working on songs, novels, a pop musical about Pocahontas and a rock opera about a female sci-fi writer in the 1600s.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2024

In southern West Virginia, there is documentation of trans men living in Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties as early as 1868.

From Salon • May 12, 2024

In her 2012 autobiography, Can’t Is Not an Option, Haley tells the story of how, as a kindergartner in her rural South Carolina elementary school, she was cast as Pocahontas in the Thanksgiving play.

From Slate • Jan. 9, 2024

Chief Powhatan refused to give in to the hostage takers’ demands, and Pocahontas remained a prisoner.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone