five nations

Five Nations
    n 1: a league of Iroquois tribes including originally the
         Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca (the Five
         Nations); after 1722 they were joined by the Tuscarora (the
         Six Nations) [syn: {Iroquois League}, {League of Iroquois},
         {Five Nations}, {Six Nations}]
    

Nation \Na"tion\, n. [F. nation, L. natio nation, race, orig., a
   being born, fr. natus, p. p. of nasci, to be born, for
   gnatus, gnasci, from the same root as E. kin. [root]44. See
   {Kin} kindred, and cf. {Cognate}, {Natal}, {Native}.]
   1. (Ethnol.) A part, or division, of the people of the earth,
      distinguished from the rest by common descent, language,
      or institutions; a race; a stock.
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            All nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.
                                                  --Rev. vii. 9.
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   2. The body of inhabitants of a country, united under an
      independent government of their own.
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            A nation is the unity of a people.    --Coleridge.
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            Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a
            nation.                               --F. S. Key.
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   3. Family; lineage. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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   4.
      (a) One of the divisions of university students in a
          classification according to nativity, formerly common
          in Europe.
      (b) (Scotch Universities) One of the four divisions (named
          from the parts of Scotland) in which students were
          classified according to their nativity.
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   5. A great number; a great deal; -- by way of emphasis; as, a
      nation of herbs. --Sterne.
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   {Five nations}. See under {Five}.

   {Law of nations}. See {International law}, under
      {International}, and {Law}.
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   Syn: people; race. See {People}.
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Five \Five\ (f[imac]v), a. [OE. fif, five, AS. f[imac]f,
   f[imac]fe; akin to D. vijf, OS. f[imac]f, OHG. finf, funf, G.
   f["u]nf, Icel. fimm, Sw. & Sw. Dan. fem, Goth. fimf, Lith.
   penki, W. pump, OIr. c['o]ic, L. quinque, Gr. pe`nte, [AE]ol.
   pe`mpe, Skr. pa[~n]can. [root]303. Cf. {Fifth}, {Cinque},
   {Pentagon}, {Punch} the drink, {Quinary}.]
   Four and one added; one more than four.
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   {Five nations} (Ethnol.), a confederacy of the Huron-Iroquois
      Indians, consisting of five tribes: Mohawks, Onondagas,
      Cayugas, Oneidas, and Senecas. They inhabited the region
      which is now the State of new York.
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