erie

IPA/ˈɪə.ri/
KK[ˈɪri]IPA/ˈɪr.i/

erie — noun

1. an Indigenous North American people who lived along the southern shores of the G

1.nounC2
Definition

an Indigenous North American people who lived along the southern shores of the Great Lake later named after them in the 1600s, speaking an Iroquoian language. The term can also refer to a single member of that people. The Erie were largely wiped out in a war against the Iroquois Confederacy around 1656.

Example

Archaeologists found pottery fragments that they believe belonged to the Erie people.

the Erie people (collective noun for the group)

Christopher wrote a school report about the Erie and their conflicts with neighbouring Iroquois tribes.

Common collocations
  • the Erie
  • Erie people
  • Erie nation
  • Erie territory
  • Erie village
Synonyms
  • Erie people

    the full formal name for the group

  • Erielhonan

    the original Iroquoian autonym from which 'Erie' is derived

Grammar Patterns

the Erie (collective)

an Erie (member)

Usage Note

Often used with 'the' as a collective plural: the Erie. This sense is primarily historical; the Erie ceased to exist as a distinct people group after the Beaver Wars of the 1650s.

Common Mistakes

The Eries built longhouses near the lake.
The Erie built longhouses near the lake.
The people's name does not add -s when used as a collective noun.

2. the Erie people's ancestral language, which belonged to the Iroquoian language f

2.nounC2
Definition

the Erie people's ancestral language, which belonged to the Iroquoian language family and is now extinct. Only a handful of words survive in records kept by early French colonists.

Example

Only a few Erie words, including names for local animals, survive in French records from the 1600s.

the Erie language (language-name pattern)

Linguists classify Erie as an Iroquoian language, related to Cherokee and Mohawk, based on limited surviving word lists.

Common collocations
  • Erie language
  • Erie word
  • speak Erie
  • in Erie
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

the Erie language

Erie as a modifier

Usage Note

No audio recordings of the Erie language exist. All modern knowledge comes from word lists and place-name evidence in writings by French missionaries and explorers from the 1600s.

Common Mistakes

He is learning Erie at university.
He is studying what little is known of the Erie language at university.
There are no fluent speakers or teaching materials available.

erie — idiom

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four terms refer to Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region during the 17th century, but they are distinct groups. The Erie (伊利族) lived south of Lake Erie and spoke an Iroquoian language; they were largely destroyed by the Iroquois Confederacy around 1656. The Huron (休倫族) lived southeast of Georgian Bay and were also Iroquoian-speaking; they were a major trading partner of the French before being scattered by the Iroquois. The Iroquois (易洛魁聯盟) were a powerful confederacy of five (later six) nations based in what is now upstate New York — they were the enemies who defeated both the Erie and the Huron. The Neutral Nation (中立族) lived between the Erie and the Iroquois on the Niagara Peninsula and tried to stay out of the conflict. For example: 'The Erie were not a member of the Iroquois Confederacy, even though both groups spoke related languages.'

Erie ↗HuronIroquoisNeutral ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • Erie people
  • Erie language
  • Erie culture
  • Erie territory
  • Erie village
  • Erie nation

Phrases

  • Lake Erie
  • Erie, Pennsylvania
  • the Erie

Etymology

IroquoianFrenchEnglish

The name Erie comes from the Iroquoian word erielhonan, meaning 'long tail' — a reference to the mountain lion (puma) that once roamed the region south of the Great Lakes. French explorers and missionaries shortened it to 'Erie' in the 1600s and used it to name both the people they encountered and the lake. The city of Erie in Pennsylvania was later named after the lake.