also Algonkian, Native American people and language family, 1885, an ethnologist's word, from Algonquin, name of one of the tribes, + -ian. Both forms of the name have been used as adjectives and nouns. The people originally were spread over northeast and north-central North America, from Nova Scotia (Micmac) to Montana (Cheyenne). From 1890 in geology.
updated on September 28, 2017
