English

Etymology

1683, a name applied disparagingly by Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) to English colonists in neighboring Connecticut. It may be from Du. Janke, lit. "Little John," dim. of common personal name Jan; or it may be from Jan Kes familiar form of "John Cornelius," or perhaps an alt. of Jan Kees, dial. variant of Jan Kaas, lit. "John Cheese," the generic nickname the Flemings used for Dutchmen. It originally seems to have been applied insultingly to Dutch, especially freebooters, before they turned around and slapped it on the English. In Eng. a term of contempt (1750s) before its use as a general term for "native of New England" (1765). Shortened form Yank in reference to "an American" first recorded 1778.

Noun

Yankee

1. a native or inhabitant of New England
2. a native or inhabitant of the Northern USA
3. a native or inhabitant of the USA
4. The letter Y in the NATO phonetic alphabet

Translations

• Russian: Янки
• Slovak: Yankee
• Spanish: yanqui

See Also

• Yank
• Yankeedom
• Yankeeism
• Yankee-Doodle
• yanqui