mohican
mohican Lexical Profile
mohican Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A member of an Eastern Algonquian Native American people originally inhabiting the upper Hudson River valley in present-day New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont.
"Many descendants of the Mohicans relocated westward in the nineteenth century and today form part of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community in Wisconsin."
British A hairstyle in which the sides of the head are shaved and a central strip of noticeably longer hair runs from the forehead to the nape, often styled to stand upright.
"The punk guitarist dyed his spiky mohican bright magenta before the concert."
The extinct Eastern Algonquian language formerly spoken by the Mohican (Mahican) people.
"Linguists have worked with community members to revitalize Mohican using eighteenth-century missionary manuscripts."
• adjective
Of or relating to the Mohican (Mahican) people, their culture, or their extinct Algonquian language.
"The museum exhibition featured traditional Mohican beadwork and historical treaties from the Hudson Valley."
Word Nuance & Usage
When referring to the hairstyle, "mohican" is standard in British English, whereas "mohawk" is the standard term in North American English. Historically, James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Last of the Mohicans" blended cultural elements of the Mahican and Mohegan tribes, who are two distinct Algonquian peoples.
• Rhymes for mohican
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Dutch Mahikan, an adaptation of the Mahican autonym Muhhekunneuw, meaning "people of the waters that are never still," in reference to the tidal Hudson River.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.