Appalachian

English

Etymology

From a Native American village near present-day Tallahassee, Florida transcribed in Spanish as Apalchen or Apalachen [a.paˈla.tʃɛn]. The name was eventually used also for the tribe and region spreading well inland to the north. Now spelled "Appalachian", it is the fourth oldest surviving European-given place-name in the US after Florida, the Dry Tortugas, and Cape Canaveral.[1] After the de Soto expedition in 1540, Spanish cartographers began to apply the name of the tribe to the mountains themselves.

Detail of Gutierrez' 1562 map showing the first known cartographic appearance of a variant of Appalachia(n).

Pronunciation
  • (northern US) IPA(key): /ˌæ.pəˈleɪ.ʃən/, /ˌæ.pəˈleɪ.tʃən/
    Audio (US)(file)
    Rhymes: -eɪʃən
    Homophone: appellation
  • (southern US) IPA(key): /ˌæ.pəˈlæ.tʃən/
    Rhymes: -ætʃən

Adjective

Appalachian (comparative more Appalachian, superlative most Appalachian)

  1. Referring to the region of Appalachia or its characteristics.
  2. Referring to the people and culture of Appalachia.

Translations

Noun

Appalachian (plural Appalachians)

  1. A person from Appalachia.

Translations

Proper noun

Appalachian

  1. The dialect of people from Appalachia.

Synonyms

References
  1. George Stewart, Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States (1945, New York: Random House), pages 11–13, 17, 18
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