Lenni
/ˈlɛn.i/noun
A term meaning “genuine” or “real,” chiefly encountered in the ethnonym Lenni-Lenape.
Did you know?Lenni-Lenape is an autonym associated with the Lenape people, while “Delaware” was an English colonial name derived from a title of the English governor Thomas West, Baron De La Warr.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-contact period
Eastern Algonquian
*lenni
“Reconstructed or historically attested root meaning genuine, real, or original.”
Early modern period
Lenape
lenni
“Genuine, real, or original.”
17th–18th Century
Lenape
Lenni-Lenape
“The real or genuine people; an Indigenous self-designation.”
18th–19th Century
English
Lenni-Lenape
“An ethnonym used in English for the Lenape people.”
Modern English
English
Lenni
“A shortened or attributive form chiefly associated with Lenni-Lenape.”