roanoke
n. countablen. the name of a famous 'lost colony' in early American history where all the settlers disappeared. It is also the name of a city and a river in Virginia.
n. refers to the Roanoke Colony, the first attempted English settlement in North America, which famously vanished between 1587 and 1590. Also designates a major city and river in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Historians still wonder what happened to the people at Roanoke.
The mystery of the Roanoke settlers remains one of the most enduring puzzles in the history of early colonial America.
While the name is synonymous with the vanished sixteenth-century colony, modern Roanoke serves as a vital commercial and transport hub for the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountain region.
Usually functions as a proper noun; when referring to the historical event, it is often paired with 'colony' or 'mystery'.