Algonquin
/ælˈɡɒŋ.kwɪn/noun
A member of an Indigenous people of eastern Canada; also, the Algonquian language spoken by that people.
Did you know?Algonquin is often used in English as if it were the name of one tribe, but historically it comes through French from a Mi'kmaq word and was applied broadly by outsiders to related peoples and languages.
Etymological Timeline
Early 17th Century
French
Algonquin
“A name applied by French speakers to an Indigenous people of the Ottawa Valley and nearby regions.”
16th–17th Century
Mi'kmaq
algoomeaking
“A term interpreted by French observers as referring to people or place; the exact original sense is debated.”
Late 16th Century
French
algoumequin / algonquin
“French spellings recording an Indigenous ethnonym used for allied peoples in eastern Canada.”
Modern English
English
Algonquin
“The established English name for the Algonquin people and their language.”
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