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Webster 1913 Edition

Sagamore

Sag′a-more

,
Noun.
1.
[Cf.
Sachem
.]
The head of a tribe among the American Indians; a chief; – generally used as synonymous with sachem, but some writters distinguished between them, making the sachem a chief of the first rank, and a sagamore one of the second rank.
“Be it sagamore, sachem, or powwow.”
Longfellow.
2.
A juice used in medicine.
[Obs.]
Johnson.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sagamore

SAG'AMORE

,
Noun.
Among some tribes of American Indians, a king or chief.

Definition 2024

sagamore

sagamore

See also: Sagamore

English

Noun

sagamore ‎(plural sagamores)

  1. A chief of one or several Native American tribe(s), especially of the Algonquians.
    Be it sagamore, sachem, or powwow. — Longfellow.
  2. (obsolete) A juice used in medicine.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)

Synonyms

Etymology

First attested in the 1610s–1620s. From an Algonquian language; compare Abenaki sôgmô, sôgemô ‎(“chief”); Penobscot sagama, sagema, sagemo, sangemo ‎(“chief”); Mi'kmaq saqamaw ‎(“chief”). Ultimately the same Proto-Algonquian root *sa·kima·wa as sachem.

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