Yankee

Meaning

Noun

1. (Commonwealth, derogatory, sometimes) A native or inhabitant of the United States.
2. (Southern-US) A native or inhabitant of the Northern United States.
3. (Northern-US) A native or inhabitant of New England.
4. (Louisiana, Southern) An Anglo, as opposed to someone with French ancestry; a native or inhabitant of the rest of the United States.
5. 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.
6. A player for the New York Yankees.
7. A wager on four selections, consisting of 11 separate bets: six doubles, four trebles and a fourfold accumulator. A minimum two selections must win to gain a return.
8. Someone on the Union side.

Verb

to cheat, trick or swindle somebody; to misrepresent something

Synonyms

American

🇺🇸/🇲🇵/🇺🇲

Yank

Usonian

Northerner

Usanian

US American

United Statesian

US-ian

yank

Yankee-Doodle

New Englander

citizen of the United States

American person

in the States

Native American

stateside

westerner

ICAO spelling alphabet

Translations

yanqui

yankee

Yankee

Yankee

ianqui

ianque

yankee

Yankee

Yanqui

Ami

🇺🇸/🇲🇵/🇺🇲

US-Amerikanerin

US-Amerikaner

🇺🇸/🇲🇵/🇺🇲

yankee

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈjæŋ.ki/

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".