seneca
seneca Lexical Profile
seneca Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Younger, c. 4 BC – AD 65), a prominent Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist, or his father Marcus Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Elder), a Roman rhetorician.
"Students of classical philosophy frequently read the moral epistles of Seneca to understand Roman Stoicism."
A member of an indigenous Iroquoian people originally inhabiting western New York and constituting the westernmost nation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy).
"The Seneca served as the traditional Keepers of the Western Door within the Iroquois Confederacy."
The Northern Iroquoian language spoken by the Seneca people in western New York, Oklahoma, and Ontario.
"Immersion schools on the territory are working to revitalize Seneca among younger generations."
Seneca snakeroot (Polygala senega), a perennial North American herb of the milkwort family native to eastern and central woodlands, or its dried root used medicinally as an expectorant.
"Early nineteenth-century apothecaries frequently stocked dried seneca for preparing cough syrups."
• adjective
Relating to the Seneca people, their language, or their culture.
"The museum exhibit featured traditional Seneca beadwork and carved wooden masks."
Word Origin & Etymology
The Native American ethnonym and language name come via Dutch from the Mahican exonym 'Sinnake', referring to the Iroquoian nation whose autonym is Onöndowa'ga:', meaning 'People of the Great Hill'. The Roman cognomen Seneca derives from Latin 'senex', meaning 'old' or 'old man'.