Acadian

Pertaining to French settlers of the Acadie region (now Atlantic Canada). The British expelled generations of entrenched settlers in the infamous Acadian Expulsion circa 1755. Some 25% of these expelled persons ended up in Louisiana, where the term Cajun has since been derived from "Acadian". Some Acadians escaped expulsion, and some later returned to the region. The story of the expulsion was made famous in Longfellow's poem, Evangeline.

A*ca"di*an (#), a.

Of or pertaining to Acadie, or Nova Scotia.

n.

A native of Acadie.

Acadian epoch Geol., an epoch at the beginning of the American paleozoic time, and including the oldest American rocks known to be fossiliferous. See Geology. -- Acadian owl Zool., a small North American owl (Nyctule Acadica); the saw-whet.

© Webster 1913.