Word.ws English Dictionary

sagamore

Syllables: sa·ga·more/ˈsæɡəmɔː/US/ˈsæɡəˌmɔɹ/

sagamore noun: a chief of one or several Native American tribe(s), especially of the Algonquians.

sagamore: a chief of one or several Native American tribe(s), especially of the Algonquians
Image: Michael Keropian, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

sagamore (plural sagamores)

  1. (US, historical) A chief of one or several Native American tribe(s), especially of the Algonquians.
    • [A] Sagamore with a Humberd in his eare for a pendant, a black havvke on his occiput for his plume, Movvhackees for his gold chaine, good ſtore of VVampompeage begirting his loynes, his bovv in his hand, his quiver at his back, vvith ſix naked Indian ſplatterlaſhes at his heeles for his guard...1634, William Wood, “Of Their Apparell, Ornaments, Paintings, and Other Artificiall Deckings”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America...
    • An Indian Soggamore is not in his full Pomp and Bravery without one of theſe Birds in his Ear for a Pendant.1693 May, “The Description of the American Tomineius, or Humming Bird, communicated by Nehemiah Grew, M. D. and Fellow of the Royal Society”, in Philosophical Transactions: Giving Some Account of the...
  2. (US, archaic, historical, informal) An eminent member of a group, or an eminent person in society.
  3. (US, historical) A high-ranking officer of the Tammany Hall political organization responsible for taking care of its property.
    • The society elects annually thirteen sachems, which represent the original thirteen States. […] The other officers of the society are a Secretary, Treasurer, Sagamore, and Wiskinkie. The duty of the Sagamore is to take care of the property of the society; that of the Wiskinkie, to act as doorkeeper.1865, R. G. Horton, “The History of Tammany Society, or, Columbian Order. Chapter V. From 1834 to 1840.”, in D. T. Valentine, Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, New York, N.Y.: Edmund...

Proper noun capitalized: Sagamore

Sagamore

  1. A census-designated place in the town of Bourne, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.
  2. An unincorporated community in Cowanshannock Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
  3. An unincorporated community in Saltlick Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Forms of sagamore

pluralsagamores

Origin of sagamore

From an Algonquian language; compare Abenaki sôgmô, sôgemô (“chief”), Mi'kmaq saqamaw (“chief”), and Penobscot sagama, sagema, sagemo, sangemo (“chief”), all ultimately from Proto-Algonquian *sa·kima·wa (“male chief”). Doublet of sachem.

Words formed from sagamore

Questions about sagamore

What does sagamore mean?
Sagamore means a chief of one or several Native American tribe(s), especially of the Algonquians.
What part of speech is sagamore?
Sagamore can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce sagamore?
Sagamore is pronounced /ˈsæɡəmɔː/ (UK).
What is the plural of sagamore?
The plural of sagamore is sagamores.

Words near sagamore in the dictionary

  1. Sagamihara
  2. sagamite
  3. sagamites
  4. sagamité
  5. sagamités
  6. sagamore
  7. Sagamore Beach
  8. sagamores
  9. sagamoreship
  10. sagamoreships
  11. sagan

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sagamore (page history and authors); Sagamore (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sagamore.wav.

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