sachem

English

Etymology

First attested in the 1620s. From Narragansett sachem; compare Lenape sakima (“chief”), Mi'kmaq saqamaw (“chief”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈseɪtʃəm/, /ˈsatʃəm/

Noun

sachem (plural sachems)

1. A chief of a tribe of the American Natives; a sagamore.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 16

     Planted with their broad ends on the deck, a circle of these slabs laced together, mutually sloped towards each other, and at the apex united in a tufted point, where the loose hairy fibres waved to and fro like the top-knot on some old Pottowottamie Sachem’s head.

Anagrams

• mechas
• schema