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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Yankee \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.
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From meanness first this Portsmouth Yankey rose,
And still to meanness all his conduct flows.
--Oppression,
A poem by an
American
(Boston,
1765).
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Yankee \Yan"kee\, a.
Of or pertaining to a Yankee; characteristic of the Yankees.
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The alertness of the Yankee aspect. --Hawthorne.
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{Yankee clover}. (Bot.) See {Japan clover}, under {Japan}.
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