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Webster 1913 Edition


Yankee

Yan′kee

,
Noun.
[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.
From meanness first this Portsmouth
Yankey
rose,
And still to meanness all his conduct flows.
Oppression, A poem by an American (Boston, 1765).

Yan′kee

,
Adj.
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
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Yankee

YANKEE

,
Noun.
A corrupt pronunciation of the word English by the native Indians of America.

Definition 2024


Yankee

Yankee

See also: yankee

Translingual

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈjænki]

Symbol

Yankee

  1. The letter Y in the ICAO spelling alphabet.

Translations


English

Noun

Yankee (plural Yankees)

  1. (chiefly outside USA) A native or inhabitant of the United States.
  2. (chiefly Southern USA) A native or inhabitant of the Northern United States.
  3. (chiefly Northern USA) A native or inhabitant of New England.
  4. (nautical) A large triangular headsail used in light or moderate winds and set on the fore topmast stay. Unlike a genoa it does not fill the whole fore triangle, but is set in combination with the working staysail.
  5. (baseball) A player that plays for the New York Yankees.
  6. A wager on four selections, consisting of 11 separate bets: six doubles, four trebles and a fourfold accumulator. A minimum two selections must win to gain a return.
    • 1980, New Scientist (volume 85, number 1199, 20 March 1980)
      Betting is complicated with win bets, place bets, each-way bets and complex bets such as doubles, trebles, Yankees and the like.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

Yankee (third-person singular simple present Yankees, present participle Yankeeing, simple past and past participle Yankeed)

  1. (dated, slang, US, Canada, sometimes offensive) to cheat, trick or swindle somebody; to misrepresent something

Manx

Etymology

Borrowing from English Yankee.

Noun

Yankee m (genitive singular Yankee, plural Yankeeyn)

  1. Yankee

yankee

yankee

See also: Yankee

Spanish

Adjective

yankee m, f (plural yankees)

  1. Yankee, American

Noun

yankee m, f (plural yankees)

  1. Yankee, American