POWHATAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Powhatan mean? 

• POWHATAN (noun)
  The noun POWHATAN has 3 senses:

1. Indian chief and founder of the Powhatan confederacy of tribes in eastern Virginia; father of Pocahontas (1550?-1618)

2. a member of the Algonquian people who formerly lived in eastern Virginia

3. the Algonquian language of the Powhatan

  Familiarity information: POWHATAN used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• POWHATAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Indian chief and founder of the Powhatan confederacy of tribes in eastern Virginia; father of Pocahontas (1550?-1618)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Powhatan; Wahunsonacock

Instance hypernyms:

Algonquian; Algonquin (a member of any of the North American Indian groups speaking an Algonquian language and originally living in the subarctic regions of eastern Canada; many Algonquian tribes migrated south into the woodlands from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic coast)

Indian chief; Indian chieftain (the leader of a group of Native Americans)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A member of the Algonquian people who formerly lived in eastern Virginia

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Powhatan" is a kind of...):

Algonquian; Algonquin (a member of any of the North American Indian groups speaking an Algonquian language and originally living in the subarctic regions of eastern Canada; many Algonquian tribes migrated south into the woodlands from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic coast)

Instance hyponyms:

Matoaka; Pocahontas; Rebecca Rolfe (a Powhatan woman (the daughter of Powhatan) who befriended the English at Jamestown and is said to have saved Captain John Smith's life (1595-1617))

Sense 3

Meaning:

The Algonquian language of the Powhatan

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("Powhatan" is a kind of...):

Algonquian; Algonquian language; Algonquin (family of North American Indian languages spoken from Labrador to South Carolina and west to the Great Plains)