A region of the southern and eastern United States, usually comprising the states that joined the Confederacy during the Civil War. The term was popularized in the minstrel song "Dixie's Land," written by Daniel D. Emmett (1815-1904) in 1859.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.