Abenaki

See also: abenaki

English

Alternative forms
  • (Eastern Abenaki) Abnaki
  • (Western Abenaki) Wabnaki
  • (Abenaki confederacy) Waponahki

Etymology

From French abénaqui, either from Montagnais ouabanākionek (“people of the eastern country”)[1] or from the Western Abenaki autonym Wôbanaki or an Eastern Abenaki/Penobscot cognate of the same,[2][3] from Algonquin. Ultimately a compound word meaning "people of the east" or "people of the dawn-land", from Proto-Algonquian *wa·panki (“dawn”) + *askyi (“land”).

Pronunciation
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌæbəˈnæ.ki/, /ˌɑbəˈnɑki/

Proper noun

Abenaki

  1. An Algonquian First People from northeastern North America, mainly Maine and Quebec. [early 18th century][1]
    The Abenaki have unique customs.
  2. A complex of Eastern Algonquian lects, originally spoken in what is now Maine, and Quebec, divided into Western Abenaki and Eastern Abenaki (Penobscot). [early 20th century][1]
  3. (in particular) The Western Abenaki language.

Translations

Noun

Abenaki (plural Abenakis or Abenaki)

  1. A member of this Algonquian First People. [early 18th century][1]
    Two Abenakis greeted him.

Translations

Adjective

Abenaki (not comparable)

  1. Related or pertaining to the Abenaki people or language. [early 19th century][1]

Translations

See also
  • Wiktionary's coverage of Abenaki terms

References
  1. Lesley Brown, editor (1933) The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 3
  2. “Abenaki” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  3. “Abenaki” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.

Further reading


Anagrams
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