Yank

See also: yank and þank

English

Etymology

Clipping of Yankee.

Pronunciation

• (without æ-raising) IPA^(key): /jæŋk/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

    • (æ-raising) IPA^(key): /jeɪ̯ŋk/, /jɛ̃ŋk/
• Rhymes: -æŋk
• Hyphenation: Yank

Noun

Yank (plural Yanks)

2. A native or inhabitant of some part of the United States.

   Alternative form: Yankee

   2. (US) Someone from the northern United States.

      Alternative form: Yankee

      Synonyms: Northerner, northerner

      • 1865, unnamed Confederate officer, according to Lieutenant Joseph E. Moody, U.S.V., “Life in Confederate Prisons”, in Civil War Papers, Volume II, Massachusetts Commandery (1900), page 368:

        Halt! come down there, you Yanks, come down!

      • 1944, Howard Fast, Freedom Road, M.E. Sharpe, published 1995, →ISBN, page 33:

        “I do wish I might of found you in my sights when you was with them damn Yanks,” Abner added.

      • 2004, O. K. Williams, The Way the Cards Fall, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 16:

        Corporal Bob explained, “The Yanks has tha best weapons. But us Rebs know how to shoot tha damn things. […] ”

      2. (especially) One from New England.

         Alternative form: Yankee

         Synonym: New Englander

      3. (especially, historical, American Civil War) Someone on the Union side.
   4. (slang, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, UK, sometimes derogatory, by extension) Someone from the United States.

      Alternative form: Yankee

      Synonyms: American, US American; see also Thesaurus:American

      • 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:

        The smart and inventive turn of the modern Yank has made him a specialist in ingenious devices, straight or crooked. Unpickable locks and invincible lock-pickers, burglar-proof safes and safe-specializing burglars, come equally from the States.

      • 1951 June 11, “The Yanks Are Coming: U.S. shows world we are playing for keeps as 4th Division leaves to join Eisenhower's NATO army”, in Life, page 38:

        “This time,” he [General Alphonse-Pierre Juin] told the Yanks, “you have not crossed to win new victories but to preserve peace. […] ”

Translations

native of the Northern USA — see also Yankee

• Finnish: jenkki (fi)
• French: Yankee (fr) m or f
• Polish: Jankes (pl) m, Jankeska (pl) f

native of the USA — see also Yankee

• Esperanto: jankio
• Finnish: jenkki (fi)
• French: ricain (fr) m, ricaine (fr) f, ricains (fr) m pl, ricaines (fr) f pl, amerloque (fr) m or f, Yankee (fr) m or f
• German: Ami (de) m, Yankee (de) m
• Norwegian:

  Nynorsk: jenki m

• Polish: jankes (pl) m, jankeska (pl) f
• Portuguese: ianque (pt)
• Russian: а́мер (ru) m (ámer), я́нки (ru) m (jánki), пиндо́с (ru) m (pindós) (offensive, ethnic slur)
• Spanish: yanqui (es)
• Swedish: jänkare (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Japanese: ヤンキー (ja) (yankī)