Seneca
1 Americannoun
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Senecas,
plural
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Seneca
plural
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a member of the largest tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy of North American Indians, formerly inhabiting western New York and being conspicuous in the wars south and west of Lake Erie.
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an Iroquoian language of the Seneca, Onondaga, and Cayuga tribes.
noun
noun
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a member of a North American Indian people formerly living south of Lake Ontario; one of the Iroquois peoples
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the language of this people, belonging to the Iroquoian family
noun
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Lucius Annaeus (əˈniːəs), called the Younger. ?4 bc –65 ad , Roman philosopher, statesman, and dramatist; tutor and adviser to Nero. He was implicated in a plot to murder Nero and committed suicide. His works include Stoical essays on ethical subjects and tragedies that had a considerable influence on Elizabethan drama
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his father, Marcus (ˈmɑːkəs) or Lucius Annaeus, called the Elder or the Rhetorician. ?55 bc –?39 ad , Roman writer on oratory and history
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Seneca
From the New York Dutch word Sennecaas, etc., originally applied to the Oneida and, more generally, to all the Upper Iroquois (as opposed to the Mohawk), probably < an unattested Mahican name
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Lake Ontario is not owned by the United States,” Seneca said.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
In the viral review by Wilson, who also translated Seneca and Euripides, as well as Homer’s “Iliad,” she likened Nolan’s nearly three-hour epic to Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “Game of Thrones.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Senate President Thomas C. Alexander, who started his Seneca legal practice around the same time as Graham.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
The devotion is well-earned: Smith can quote Jefferson verbatim and cites Seneca and Enlightenment philosophers without blinking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
In 1862, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her family moved from Seneca Falls to New York City when her husband took a job there.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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
Calvert’s Fred Fabrizio rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns and Austin Jones added 156 yards and two TDs as the Senecas rolled to a 77-14 victory.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 12, 2016
At the same time, Senecas, Shawnees, and Delawares laid siege to Fort Pitt.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 30, 2014
Susan Asquith, a spokeswoman for the Senecas, said the tribe was prohibited from speaking on issues regarding proposed gambling in their region because of legal proceedings involving the state.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2013
Whether Ruth had been taken prisoner either by Guthrie or the Indians, the result would be the same—she would be a captive among the Senecas.
From The Frontiersmen by Gustave Aimard
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
