Conestoga
UK /ˌkɒnəˈstəʊɡə/ · US /ˌkɑnəˈstoʊɡə/ proper noun, noun
Forms Conestogas
- proper noun A river in Pennsylvania, United States.
- noun (now historical) Synonym of Susquehannock, a member of a North Iroquoian people formerly living in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
- noun (now historical) A type of draft horse developed in Pennsylvania.
Synonyms
Susquehannock covered wagon Conestoga wagon prairie wagon prairie schooner
Etymology
From Susquehannock kanahstó:ke (the name of a settlement, now Conestoga, Pennsylvania). According to Mithun, British colonists based the name on the Mohawk word tekanastoge (“place of the upright pole”). It may also be the anglicized form of Gandastogue, which may have been close to what the Susquehannock called themselves.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “Conestoga”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details