Refine this word faster
Yankee
Definitions
- 1 used by Southerners for an inhabitant of a northern state in the United States (especially a Union soldier) wordnet
- 1 A native or inhabitant of some part of the United States:; A native or inhabitant of the northern United States. Southern-US
"[…]so that I couldn't help telling her, sir, that in our country, leastways in Virginia (they say the Yankees are very pert), young people don't speak of their elders so."
- 2 A headsail resembling a genoa or a jib but with a high-cut clew, normally used together with a staysail. A sailing boat is typically equipped with three yankee sails of different sizes, number one being the largest.
- 3 an American (especially to non-Americans) wordnet
- 4 A native or inhabitant of some part of the United States:; A native or inhabitant of New England. Northern-US
- 5 Alternative letter-case form of Yankee from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet. alt-of
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 an American who lives in New England wordnet
- 7 A native or inhabitant of some part of the United States:; An anglo, someone without French ancestry; a native or inhabitant of the rest of the United States. French, Louisiana
- 8 Obsolete form of Yankee. alt-of, obsolete
"As the coach was by law limited to a slow pace on the bridge, we had leisure to read the wayward fancies of our predecessors inscribed in chalk, and many a true yankee name did we recognize;—the bridge is a kind of traveller’s register."
- 9 an American who lives in the North (especially during the American Civil War) wordnet
- 10 A native or inhabitant of some part of the United States:; A native or inhabitant of the United States in general. Commonwealth, derogatory, sometimes
"...in a short time, a kind of infectious mirth and pride in their bargains took possession of the place, and every one bought something, holding out their purchases to view, and praising them in the words and phraseology of the young yankees, who, finding their own importance, were not slow to avail themselves of it,..."
- 11 Any individual associated with the Union; that is, the United States federal government, during the American Civil War. Southern-US, derogatory, historical, often
- 12 A player for the New York Yankees.
- 13 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.
- 14 A wager on four selections, consisting of 11 separate bets: six doubles, four trebles and a fourfold accumulator.
"Betting is complicated with win bets, place bets, each-way bets and complex bets such as doubles, trebles, Yankees and the like."
- 1 to cheat, trick or swindle somebody; to misrepresent something Canada, US, dated, offensive, slang, sometimes
"Kentuckians reportedly regarded a Yankee “as a sort of Jesuit” because of his religious zeal, while in Illinois the term yankeed was synonymous with cheated."
Etymology
First attested in 1765, when it was described as "a name of derision … given by the Southern people on the Continent to those of New England". Various suggestions have been made as to its origin: that it derives from a Cherokee word meaning "slave" or "coward" and was applied to the New Englanders by the Virginians because the former refused to aid the latter in a war against the Cherokees; that it derives from Yengees, an Indian corruption of English; and that it derives from Janke, a pet form of the common Dutch forename Jan. The OED regards the last of these as "perhaps the most plausible".
First attested in 1765, when it was described as "a name of derision … given by the Southern people on the Continent to those of New England". Various suggestions have been made as to its origin: that it derives from a Cherokee word meaning "slave" or "coward" and was applied to the New Englanders by the Virginians because the former refused to aid the latter in a war against the Cherokees; that it derives from Yengees, an Indian corruption of English; and that it derives from Janke, a pet form of the common Dutch forename Jan. The OED regards the last of these as "perhaps the most plausible".
See also for "yankee"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: yankee