sachem

Meaning

Noun

The chief of a Native American tribe; a sagamore.
A leader in the Tammany Hall society.

Origin

First attested in the 1620s. Borrowed from Narragansett sachem; compare Unami sakima ("chief"), Mi'kmaq saqamaw ("chief"). Ultimately the same Proto-Algonquian root *sa·kima·wa as sagamore.

Modern English dictionary

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