Appalachian Definition

Origin of Appalachian

• From a Native American village near present-day Tallahassee, Florida transcribed in Spanish as Apalchen or Apalachen [a.paˈla.tʃɛn]. The name was eventually used as for the tribe and region spreading well inland to the north. Now spelled "Appalachian", it is the fourth oldest surviving European place-name in the US. After the de Soto expedition in 1540, Spanish cartographers began to apply the name of the tribe to the mountains themselves. (compare Wikipedia's article on the etymology and pronunciation of "Appalachia").

  From Wiktionary