Shawnee

[ shaw-nee ]

/ ʃɔˈni /

noun, plural Shaw·nees, (especially collectively) Shaw·nee.

a member of an Algonquian-speaking tribe formerly in the east-central U.S., now in Oklahoma.

the Algonquian language of the Shawnee tribe.

a town in E Kansas.

a city in central Oklahoma.

Origin of Shawnee

1720–30, Americanism; back formation from earlier Shawnese, Shawanese (construed as plural), reshaping (with -ese) of earlier Shawanoes (plural) < Munsee Delaware šá·wano·w (singular) < Shawnee ša·wano·ki Shawnees, literally, people of the south

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shawnees

If Spotted Deer is alive we will fool the Shawnees and carry him away.
Spotted Deer|Elmer Gregor
The Shawnees urged them on with yells of approval, and the entire assemblage was soon in an uproar.
Spotted Deer|Elmer Gregor
How far is it from this place to the land of the Miamis and the Shawnees?
The Free Rangers|Joseph A. Altsheler
As the Shawnees loitered beside the stream, they produced rations of dried meat, and ate heartily.
Spotted Deer|Elmer Gregor

If the Shawnees try to come up that trail, I will hear them.
Spotted Deer|Elmer Gregor

British Dictionary definitions for shawnees

Shawnee

/ (ʃɔːˈniː) /

noun

plural -nees or -nee a member of a North American Indian people formerly living along the Tennessee River

the language of this people, belonging to the Algonquian family

Word Origin for Shawnee

C20: back formation from obsolete Shawnese, from Shawnee Shaawanwaaki people of the south, from shaawanawa south

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture definitions for shawnees

Shawnees

[ (shaw-neez) ]

A tribe of Native Americans who inhabited Ohio, Indiana, and other parts of the Middle West during the early nineteenth century. The most famous Shawnee leader was Tecumseh, who joined with the British against the Americans during the War of 1812.