Yankee

Yankee

Definition:

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.

Etymology: Yankee has been a fighting word. We first come across it in the names of pirates: one Captain Yankey, also known as Yankey Duch (presumably meaning "Dutch"), mentioned in 1683 and 1684, and a Captain John Williams, known as Yankey or Yanky, in 1687 and 1688.

It is an offence for speakers of British English to refer to anyone from the United States as a Yankee.