Sachem

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈseɪtʃəm/, /ˈsatʃəm/

Origin

First attested in the 1620s. From Narragansett sachem

compare Unami sakima ("chief"), Mi'kmaq saqamaw ("chief"). Ultimately the same Proto-Algonquian root *sa·kima·wa as sagamore.

Full definition of sachem

Noun

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