Yan·kee (y ng k )n. 1. A native or inhabitant of New England. 2. A native or inhabitant of a northern U.S. state, especially a Union soldier during the Civil War. 3. A native or inhabitant of the United States. [Probably from Dutch Janke, nickname of Jan, John.] Word History: The origin of Yankee has been the subject of much debate, but the most likely source is the Dutch name Janke, meaning "little Jan" or "little John," a nickname that dates back to the 1680s. Perhaps because it was used as the name of pirates, the name Yankee came to be used as a term of contempt. It was used this way in the 1750s by General James Wolfe, the British general who secured British domination of North America by defeating the French at Quebec. The name may have been applied to New Englanders as an extension of an original use referring to Dutch settlers living along the Hudson River. Whatever the reason, Yankee is first recorded in 1765 as a name for an inhabitant of New England. The first recorded use of the term by the British to refer to Americans in general appears in the 1780s, in a letter by Lord Horatio Nelson, no less. Around the same time it began to be abbreviated to Yank. During the American Revolution, American soldiers adopted this term of derision as a term of national pride. The derisive use nonetheless remained alive and even intensified in the South during the Civil War, when it referred not to all Americans but to those loyal to the Union. Now the term carries less emotion  except of course for baseball fans. |
Yankee [ˈjæŋkɪ] informal, Yank
n
1. (Social Science / Peoples) Often disparaging a native or inhabitant of the US; American
2. (Social Science / Peoples) a native or inhabitant of New England
3. (Historical Terms) a native or inhabitant of the Northern US, esp a Northern soldier in the Civil War
4. (Electronics & Computer Science / Telecommunications) Communications a code word for the letter y
5. (Economics, Accounting & Finance / Banking & Finance) Finance a bond issued in the US by a foreign borrower
adj
of, relating to, or characteristic of Yankees
[perhaps from Dutch Jan Kees John Cheese, nickname used derisively by Dutch settlers in New York to designate English colonists in Connecticut]
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. | Yankee - an American who lives in the North (especially during the American Civil War) U.S.A., United States, United States of America, US, USA, America, the States, U.S. - North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776 North - the region of the United States lying to the north of the Mason-Dixon line American - a native or inhabitant of the United States |
| 2. | Yankee - an American who lives in New England New England - a region of northeastern United States comprising Maine and New Hampshire and Vermont and Massachusetts and Rhode Island and Connecticut American - a native or inhabitant of the United States | |
| 3. | Yankee - an American (especially to non-Americans) American - a native or inhabitant of the United States | |
| Adj. | 1. | Yankee - used by Southerners for an inhabitant of a northern state in the United States (especially a Union soldier) northern - in or characteristic of a region of the United States north of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line; "Northern liberals"; "northern industry"; "northern cities" |
Translations
Yankee [ˈjæŋkɪ]
A. ADJ → yanqui
B. N → yanqui mf
YANKEE
Aunque en los demás países se utiliza el término Yankee para referirse a los estadounidenses en general, en Estados Unidos un Yankee es un habitante de un estado del norte, sobre todo para los sureños, ya que en el norte se dice que un verdadero Yankee es el oriundo de Nueva Inglaterra. La primera vez que se utilizó fue en la canción Yankee Doodle, escrita por un inglés para burlarse de los colonos americanos. Sin embargo, durante la revolución americana, los soldados del general Washington transformaron la canción de insulto en himno patriótico. Desde la guerra de Secesión los sureños han intentado distinguirse de los norteños llamándoles Yankees. Los británicos usan el término peyorativo Yank para referirse a los estadounidenses.
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