Micmac
/ˈmɪk.mæk/noun
An Indigenous Algonquian people of eastern Canada; also their Eastern Algonquian language, now usually spelled Mi'kmaq.
Did you know?The English form **Micmac** comes through French from the Mi'kmaq autonym, and older colonial spellings often distorted Indigenous names before modern standardized spellings were restored.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Contact
Mi'kmaq
Mi'kmaq
“The people themselves; the ethnonym used by the nation.”
17th Century
French
Micmac
“A French colonial spelling of the Mi'kmaq name.”
18th–19th Century
English
Micmac
“English borrowed the French form for the Indigenous people of eastern Canada.”
Modern English
English
Micmac
“An older English spelling, now largely replaced in respectful usage by Mi'kmaq.”