shawnee

S1H4A1W4N1E1E1
US/ʃɑˈni/US/ʃɔˈni/

noun

Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum)

Similar
Shawnee language
OriginShawnee saawanwa →
Less commonScrabble 13
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Meanings

shawnee1

nounshawnee (uncountable)
  1. uncountableVirginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum)

Shawnee2

nounShawnee (plural Shawnees or Shawnee)

plural Shawnees

  1. A member of a Native American people (tribe) from Ohio.
adjectiveShawnee (not comparable)
  1. not comparableOf, belonging to, or pertaining to this tribe.
proper noun
  1. The language of this tribe.
  2. A female given name, derived from the name of this tribe.

    The girls from our year were mainly named some version of Shawn. There was Shawna, Dawna, Shawnee, Dawnali, Shalana, and just plain Dawn and Shawn.

    2012, Louise Erdrich, The Round House, Corsair, published 2013, →ISBN, page 292
  3. A city, the county seat of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe Algonquian language spoken by the Shawnee

Similar
Shawnee language
Broader
AlgonquianAlgonquinAlgonquian language
Also see
saawanwashawaneseshawnese

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Shawneesaawanwa“Shawnee”
  2. EnglishShawnee

Ultimately from Shawnee saawanwa (“Shawnee”) or saawanoki (“southerners”), a hypothetical intermediary term is sometimes supposed to have facilitated the entry into English, such as Munsee sawanow. Likely a re-analysis of Shawnese as the plural Shawnees.

More words from Shawnee

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French Shawnee, Chaouanon
  • ShawneeNative American tribesmember
  • ChaouanonNative American tribesmember
Cite this entry
APA

shawnee. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shawnee

MLA

“shawnee.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shawnee. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shawnee,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shawnee.

Source: shawnee on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.