Conestoga

See also: conestoga

English

Etymology

From Susquehannock kanahstó:ke (the name of a settlement, now Conestoga, Pennsylvania). According to Mithun, British colonists based the name on the Mohawk word tekanastoge (“place of the upright pole”).[1] It may also be the anglicized form of Gandastogue, which may have been close to what the Susquehannock called themselves.[2]

Noun

Conestoga (plural Conestogas or Conestoga)

  1. (now historical) A member of a North Iroquoian people (also known as Susquehannock) formerly living in Pennsylvania and Maryland. [from 17th c.]
  2. (now historical) A type of draft horse developed in Pennsylvania. [from 19th c.]
  3. (now historical) A Conestoga wagon. [from 20th c.]
    • 2006, Hampton Sides, Blood and Thunder, Abacus, published 2014, page 32:
      Conestoga axles creaked under their loads as the barrels of molasses and bacon and meal rattled in the wagon beds.

References
  1. Mithun, Marianne (1981). "Stalking the Susquehannocks". International Journal of American Linguistics. 47: 1–2.
  2. Kent, Barry C. (2020). "Late Woodland/Early Historic Native Americans in the Susquehanna Drainage Basin:The Susquehannocks". In Carr, Kurt William; Bergmann, Christopher A.; et al. (eds.). The Archaeology of Native Americans in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.