Mandan

noun

Man·​dan ˈman-ˌdan 

-dən

1

plural Mandan or Mandans : a member of a Siouan-speaking Indigenous people of the Missouri River valley in North Dakota

Note: The Mandan are federally recognized as part of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation in North Dakota.

2

: the Siouan language of the Mandans

Word History

Etymology

French Mantanne, Mendanne, from Dakota (Santee dialect) mawátąna or a cognate Sioux form

First Known Use

1790, in the meaning defined at sense 1