trail of tears

noun

A forced removal of American Indian or First Nation peoples, or other alleged injustice against them, like the original Trail of Tears.

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Meanings

trail of tears1

nountrail of tears (plural trails of tears)

plural trails of tears

  1. A forced removal of American Indian or First Nation peoples, or other alleged injustice against them, like the original Trail of Tears.

Trail of Tears2

proper nounthe Trail of Tears
  1. historicalThe route followed by American Indians moved from their homelands in the southeastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi river by the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

Origin

First originated from a Choctaw chief who described the displacement, quoted in the Arkansas Gazette as a "trail of tears and death". Later popularised in reference to the Cherokees, where it is called ᏅᏃᎯ ᏚᎾᏠᏱᎸᎢ (nvnohi dunatloyilvi, literally “the trail where they cried”) in the Cherokee language.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic دَرْب الدُّمُوع
  • دَرْب الدُّمُوع (darb ad-dumūʕ)historical route
French Piste de larmes
  • Piste de larmeshistorical route
German Pfad der Tränen
  • Pfad der Tränenhistorical route
Italian Sentiero delle lacrime
  • Sentiero delle lacrimehistorical route
Portuguese Trilha das Lágrimas, Caminho das Lágrimas
  • Trilha das Lágrimashistorical route
  • Caminho das Lágrimashistorical route
Spanish Sendero de lágrimas
  • Sendero de lágrimashistorical route
Cite this entry
APA

trail of tears. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trail%20of%20tears

MLA

“trail of tears.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trail%20of%20tears. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trail of tears,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trail%20of%20tears.

Source: trail of tears on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.