\Yan"kee\, n. [Commonly considered to be a corrupt
pronunciation of the word English, or of the French word
Anglais, by the native Indians of America. According to
Thierry, a corruption of Jankin, a diminutive of John, and a
nickname given to the English colonists of Connecticut by the
Dutch settlers of New York. Dr. W. Gordon (``Hist. of the
Amer. War,'' ed, 1789, vol. i., pp. 324, 325) says it was a
favorite cant word in Cambridge, Mass., as early as 1713, and
that it meant excellent; as, a yankee good horse, yankee good
cider, etc. Cf. Scot yankie a sharp, clever, and rather bold
woman, and Prov. E. bow-yankees a kind of leggins worn by
agricultural laborers.]
A nickname for a native or citizen of New England, especially
one descended from old New England stock; by extension, an
inhabitant of the Northern States as distinguished from a
Southerner; also, applied sometimes by foreigners to any
inhabitant of the United States.
      From meanness first this Portsmouth Yankey rose, And
      still to meanness all his conduct flows. --Oppression,
                                               A poem by an
                                               American
                                               (Boston,
                                               1765).

\Yan"kee\, a.
Of or pertaining to a Yankee; characteristic of the Yankees.
      The alertness of the Yankee aspect.      --Hawthorne.
{Yankee clover}. (Bot.) See {Japan clover}, under {Japan}.