sagamore

The story

1. Proto-Algonquian · derived from*sa·kima·wa“male chief”
2. Algonquian · borrowed from
3. English todaysagamore

From an Algonquian language; compare Abenaki sôgmô, sôgemô (“chief”), Mi'kmaq saqamaw (“chief”), and Penobscot sagama, sagema, sagemo, sangemo (“chief”), all ultimately from Proto-Algonquian *sa·kima·wa (“male chief”). Doublet of sachem.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from early 17th c. A chief of one or several Native American tribe(s), especially of the Algonquians.