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Yankee - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Yankee : adj : used by southerners for an inhabitant of a northern state in
the United States (especially a Union soldier) [syn: Yankee]
(noun)
1: an American who lives in the North (especially during the
American Civil War) [syn: Yankee, Yank, Northerner]
2: an American who lives in New England [syn: New Englander,
Yankee, Yank]
3: an American [syn: Yankee, Yank, Yankee-Doodle]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Yankee : \Yan"kee\, a.
Of or pertaining to a Yankee; characteristic of the Yankees.
The alertness of the Yankee aspect. --Hawthorne.
Yankee clover. (Bot.) See Japan clover, under Japan.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Yankee : \Yan"kee\, n. [Commonly considered to be a corrupt
pronunciation of the word English, or of the French word
Anglais, by the native Indians of America. According to
Thierry, a corruption of Jankin, a diminutive of John, and a
nickname given to the English colonists of Connecticut by the
Dutch settlers of New York. Dr. W. Gordon (``Hist. of the
Amer. War,'' ed, 1789, vol. i., pp. 324, 325) says it was a
favorite cant word in Cambridge, Mass., as early as 1713, and
that it meant excellent; as, a yankee good horse, yankee good
cider, etc. Cf. Scot yankie a sharp, clever, and rather bold
woman, and Prov. E. bow-yankees a kind of leggins worn by
agricultural laborers.]
A nickname for a native or citizen of New England, especially
one descended from old New England stock; by extension, an
inhabitant of the Northern States as distinguished from a
Southerner; also, applied sometimes by foreigners to any
inhabitant of the United States.
Based on meanness first this Portsmouth Yankey rose, And
still to meanness all his conduct flows. --Oppression,
A poem by an
American
(Boston,
1765).
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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