Seminole

American  

[sem-uh-nohl] / ˈsɛm əˌnoʊl /

noun

plural

Seminoles,

plural

Seminole

1. a member of any of several groupings of North American Indians comprising emigrants from the Creek Confederacy territories to Florida or their descendants in Florida and Oklahoma, especially the culturally conservative present-day Florida Indians.

2. either of the Muskogean languages spoken by the Seminoles, comprising Mikasuki and the Florida or Seminole dialect of Creek.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Seminoles or their languages.

Seminole British  

/ ˈsɛmɪˌnəʊl /

noun

1. a member of a North American Indian people consisting of Creeks who moved into Florida in the 18th century

2. the language of this people, belonging to the Muskhogean family

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Etymology

Origin of Seminole

First recorded in 1760–70; earlier Seminolie, from Creek simanó·li “wild, runaway,” alteration of earlier and dialectal simaló·ni, from Colonial Spanish cimarrón; maroon ²

Example Sentences

Fairbanks, who was Black and Seminole, was born in the Deep South at a time when ice rinks were segregated.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 1, 2026

Though its global empire began with a London cafe in 1971, Hard Rock International has been owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida since 2007.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 13, 2025

“The Orchid Thief” took on a typically left-field Orlean subject: the trial of a Florida horticulturalist accused of stealing endangered species from a swamp in the Seminole Indian reserve.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025

It spread to Mexico when an unvaccinated Mennonite child returned home after visiting family in Seminole.

From Salon • Aug. 26, 2025

On the bus ride home he hardly said a word to anyone, the gray shadows of Brownfield and Seagraves and Seminole and Andrews falling across his face like a fine mist.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger