This week’s theme
Words borrowed from Native American languages

This week’s words
cornpone
bayou
sagamore
mugwump
totem

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(SAG-uh-mohr)

MEANING:

noun: A chief or a leader.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Eastern Abenaki sakama. Earliest documented use: 1613. A related word is sachem.

USAGE:

“He lowered his gaze and dared not to engage again the face of the sagamore.”
P. Gifford Longley; Captive; Tate Publishing; 2010.

See more usage examples of sagamore in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: