Potawatomi

noun

Pot·​a·​wat·​o·​mi ˌpä-tə-ˈwä-tə-mē How to pronounce Potawatomi (audio)
variants or less commonly Potawatami or Pottawattomi or Pottawattami
1
plural Potawatomi or Potawatomis also Potawatami or Potawatamis or Pottawattomi or Pottawattomis or Pottawattami or Pottawattamis : a member of an Indigenous people originally of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and adjoining states
2
: the Algonquian language of the Potawatomi people

Examples of Potawatomi in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Before inventing the skyscraper, Chicago was the traditional homeland of the people of the Council of Three Fires—the Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Odawa—as well as the Menominee, Miami, Ho-Chunk, Sac, Fox, Kickapoo, and Illinois nations. — Chadd Scott, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025 Between the courts taking forever, the Potawatomi taking advantage and Waukegan taking dunce lessons, the Full House development was starting to look like a long shot. — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Ojibwa po·te·wa·tami· (boodewaadamii), corresponding to the Potawatomi self-designation potewatmi, of uncertain origin

Note: According to the Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15, Northeast (Smithsonian Institution, 1978), p. 741: "This word is an unanalyzable name with no known literal meaning, and the commonly cited translation 'people of the place of the fire' is merely a folk etymology (Goddard 1972:131 [Ives Goddard, "Historical and Philological Evidence regarding the Identification of the Mascouten," Ethnohistory, vol. 19, no. 2, Spring, 1972, pp. 123-34]). There is certainly no connection with ško·te 'fire', and the vowel differences rule out derivation from Ojibwa po·tawe· 'makes a fire'."

First Known Use

1698, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of Potawatomi was in 1698

Rhymes for Potawatomi

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Cite this Entry

“Potawatomi.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Potawatomi. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.

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