Yankee (original) (raw)

Yan·kee

(yăng′kē)

1. A native or inhabitant of New England, especially one of English descent.

2. A native or inhabitant of a northern US state, especially a Union soldier during the Civil War.

3. A native or inhabitant of the United States.

[Origin unknown.]

Word History: The first known attestation of the word Yankee is found in a letter from 1758 by General James Wolfe—he used it as a term of contempt for the American colonial troops in his command. The song Yankee Doodle, which in early versions was sung by British troops to mock colonial Americans, originally used Yankee in this way: Yankee Doodle came to town / For to buy a firelock / We will tar and feather him / And so we will John Hancock. However, colonial American soldiers turned the derisive epithet around and adopted it as a term of national pride. Many theories of the origin of this term Yankee have been advanced over the years. People already wondered about the word in 1809, when Washington Irving wrote a humorous explanation of the word as coming from a term that "in the Tchusaeg (or Massachusett) language signifies silent men." More serious proposals of a Native American origin of the word have also been made. Some have suggested, for example, that Yankee derives from the pronunciation of the English word English in one of the languages of the Native Americans. However, no form resembling Yankee has been found in records of any Native American language. According to what is perhaps the most popular theory of the origin of Yankee, it comes from Dutch Janke or Janneke, which are variants of Jantje, "Johnnie," the diminutive of Jan, the Dutch equivalent of the English name John. In this theory, Janke or Janneke would have originally been used in English as a nickname for Dutch settlers living along the Hudson River and then later extended to New Englanders. This theory finds some support in the application of the term Yanky, perhaps as a nickname, to a certain Dutch pirate active in the Caribbean in the 1680s. According to yet another theory, Yankee originated as a nickname or informal term for a Dutch person deriving from Jan Kees, a compound name made up of Jan and the common Dutch name Kees, short for Cornelius. Ultimately, however, there is not enough evidence to confirm any of these theories, and the origin of Yankee remains unknown.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Yankee

(ˈjæŋkɪ) or informal

Yank

1. (Peoples) often derogatory a native or inhabitant of the US; American

2. (Peoples) a native or inhabitant of New England

3. (Historical Terms) a native or inhabitant of the Northern US, esp a Northern soldier in the Civil War

4. (Telecommunications) communications a code word for the letter y

5. (Banking & Finance) finance a bond issued in the US by a foreign borrower

adj

of, relating to, or characteristic of Yankees

[C18: perhaps from Dutch Jan Kees John Cheese, nickname used derisively by Dutch settlers in New York to designate English colonists in Connecticut]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Yan•kee

(ˈyæŋ ki)

1. a native or inhabitant of the United States.

2. a native or inhabitant of New England.

3. a native or inhabitant of a Northern state.

4. a Federal soldier in the Civil War.

adj.

5. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a Yankee or Yankees: Yankee ingenuity.

[1750–60, Amer.; perhaps back formation from Dutch Jan Kees John Cheese (taken as pl.), nickname applied by the Dutch of colonial New York to English settlers in Connecticut]

Yan′kee•dom, n.

Translations

كَلِمَة أكثر عاطفيَّة تعني: أمريكي

Yankee

yankee

Igrek jänki

jenkki Yrjö

Bandaríkjamaîur, Kani

ianque

obyvateľ severu USA Yankee

Yankee

[ˈjæŋkɪ]

B. N → yanqui mf

YANKEE

Aunque en los demás países se utiliza el término Yankee para referirse a los estadounidenses en general, en Estados Unidos un Yankee es un habitante de un estado del norte, sobre todo para los sureños, ya que en el norte se dice que un verdadero Yankee es el oriundo de Nueva Inglaterra. La primera vez que se utilizó fue en la canción Yankee Doodle, escrita por un inglés para burlarse de los colonos americanos. Sin embargo, durante la revolución americana, los soldados del general Washington transformaron la canción de insulto en himno patriótico. Desde la guerra de Secesión los sureños han intentado distinguirse de los norteños llamándoles Yankees. Los británicos usan el término peyorativo Yank para referirse a los estadounidenses.

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Yankee

[ˈjæŋki] n

(mainly US) (= person from northern US) habitant du Nord des États-Unis d'Amérique

Yankee

(inf)

n → Yankee m (inf); (Hist also) → Nordstaatler(in) m(f)

adj attr → Yankee- (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Yank

(jӕŋk) noun

an impolite word for a person from the United States of America. Yank يانْكي: أميركي يَقْطُن إحْدى وِلايات الشَّمال американец ianque Yank der Yank amerikaner γιάνκης (Αμερικανός με μειωτ. σημασία) yanqui jänki شهروند آمریکا jenkki Ricain(e) כִּינוּי לְאָדָם מארה”ב अमेर‍िकी pogrdan naziv za stanovnika Sjedinjenih Američkih Država jenki orang Amerika Serikat Bandaríkjamaður, Kani Yankee ヤンキー 양크(미국인에 대한 무례한 표현) jankis, amerikietis jenkijs; jeņķis Yanki yankee amerikaner, yankee Jankes د آمریکا اوسیدونکی ianque yankeu янки Yank Jenki Amer yankee, jänkare คนอเมริกัน Amerikalı, Yanki (貶意)美國佬 янкі اکثر تحقیرا ، امریکا کا باشندہ người Mỹ (từ thông tục) （贬意）美国佬

Yankee (ˈjӕŋki) noun, adjective

1. a more affectionate word for (an) American. Yankee كَلِمَة أكثر عاطفيَّة تعني: أمريكي янки ianque Yankee der Yankee yankee γιάνκης yanqui jänki امریکایی jenkki Yankee; yankee אָמֶרִיקָנִי अमेर‍िकी simpatičan izraz za Amerikanca jenki Yankee Bandaríkjamaður, Kani Yankee ヤンキー 양키(미국인에 대한 보다 친숙한 표현) jankis jenkijs; amerikānis Yanki yankee amerikaner Jankes, jankeski آمریکایی ianque янки Yankee Jenki; jenkijski jenki yankee, jänkare คนอเมริกัน Yanki (暱稱) 美國人 янкі امریکی کو مخاطب کرنے کا مشفقانہ لفظ người Mỹ 美国人，美国佬

2. (used by Americans from the southern states of the USA) an American from the northern states. Yankee تُسْتَعْمَل بواسِطَة الأمريكيين في وِلايات الجَنوب عن أهل الشَّمال американец от Северните щати ianque Yankee der Yankee yankee Βορειοαμερικανός, γιάνκης yanqui jänki اهل شمال ایالات متحده nordiste צְפוֹן אָמֶרִיקָנִי अमेर‍िकी sjevernjak jenki orang AS dari negara bagian di utara (nordista) 米国北部の人 미국 남부 사람들이 북부 사람을 일컫는 말 jankis ASV ziemeļu štatu iedzīvotājs Yanki yank, yankee person fra Nordstatene Jankes دامريكا دنيوانګلنډ او شمالي امريكا او سېدونكى: داتازونى استوګن yankeu северянин obyvateľ severu USA jenki severnoamerikanac nordstatare, nordstatsbo คนอเมริกันทางตอนบน Yanki (美國南方州的人稱美國北方州的人) 北方佬 янкі جنوبی ریاستوں کے امریکیوں کے ذریعہ شمالی ریاستوں کے امریکیوں کو مخاطب کرنے کا لفظ người Bắc Mỹ （美国南方州的人称美国北方州的人）北方佬