55 American English Words Derived from Algonquian Languages

55 American English Words Derived from Algonquian Languages 55 American English Words Derived from Algonquian Languages 55 American English Words Derived from Algonquian Languages By Mark Nichol American English has been enriched by the widespread adoption of words based on vocabulary of Native American tribes, including the many tribes that spoke (and, in some cases, still speak) one of the Algonquian languages of what is now eastern North America. The following is a list of such terms, more or less commonly used, most of which refer to animals or plants or products derived from them. apishamore (Algonquian): a buffalo-hide saddle blanket babiche (Mà ­kmaq): a leather or sinew thong or thread caribou (Mà ­kmaq): a species of large antlered mammal caucus (Algonquian): a group of people who meet to discuss an issue or work together toward a goal; also a verb chipmunk (Odawa): any of various small rodent species that are part of the squirrel family chinquapin (Powhatan): a dwarf chestnut tree or its nut cisco (Ojibwe): a whitefish hackmatack (Algonquian): a type of larch tree, or its wood hickory (Powhatan): a type of tree or its wood, or a cane or switch made of the wood hominy (Powhatan): soaked and hulled corn kernels husky (based on shortening of the Cree word from which Eskimo is derived): a type of dog; the adjective husky is unrelated kinkajou (Algonquian): a Central and South American mammal kinnikinnick (or killikinnick or killickinnick) (Unami Delaware): a mixture of dried leaves and bark smoked like tobacco, or the plant (also called bearberry) from which the materials are taken mackinaw (Menomini): a heavy type of cloth used for coats and blankets, or a coat or blanket made of the cloth, or a type of trout moccasin (Algonquian): a soft leather shoe or a regular shoe resembling a traditional moccasin, or, as water moccasin, a species of snake or a similar snake moose (Eastern Abenaki): a species of large antlered mammal mugwump (Eastern Abenaki): originally, a war leader, but in American slang, a kingpin, later a political independent, or someone neutral or undecided muskellunge (Ojibwe): a pike (a type of fish) muskeg (Cree): a bog or swamp muskrat (Western Abenaki): an aquatic rodent opossum (Powhatan): a marsupial (sometimes possum) papoose (Narragansett): an infant pecan (Illinois): a type of tree, or the wood or the nut harvested from it pemmican (Cree): a food made of pounded meat and melted fat, and sometimes flour and molasses as well persimmon (Powhatan): a type of tree, or the fruit harvested from it pipsissewa (Abenaki): a type of herb with leaves used for tonic and diuretic purposes pokeweed (Powhatan): a type of herb pone (Powhatan): flat cornbread; also called cornpone, which is also slang meaning â€Å"countrified† or â€Å"down-home†) powwow (Narragansett): a Native American medicine man, or, more commonly, a Native American ceremony, fair, or other gathering; also, slang for â€Å"meeting† or, less often, party puccoon (Powhatan): a type of plant, or the pigment derived from it pung (Algonquian): a box-shaped sleigh drawn by one horse punkie (Munsee): an alternate name for a biting midge, a type of fly quahog (Narragansett): a type of edible clam Quonset hut (Algonquian): a trademark for a type of prefabricated structure with an arched corrugated-metal roof raccoon (Powhatan): a type of mammal noted for its masklike facial markings, or the fur of the animal sachem (Algonquian): a chief of a Native American tribe or confederation of tribes; also, a leader in the Tammany Hall political machine sagamore (Eastern Abenaki): an Algonquian tribal chief shoepac (Unami Delaware): a cold-weather laced boot skunk (Massachusett): a type of mammal known for spraying a noxious odor in defense, or the fur of the animal; also, slang for â€Å"obnoxious person† squash (Narragansett): any of various plants that produces fruit, also called squash, that is cultivated as a vegetable; the verb squash, and the name of the ball-and-racquet game, are unrelated squaw (Massachusetts): a Native American woman or, by extension, a woman or a wife; the word is widely considered offensive succotash (Narragansett): a dish of green corn and lima or shell beans terrapin (Powhatan): one of various types of turtles toboggan (Mà ­kmaq): a wooden sled with the front end curved up and, by extension, a downward course or a sharp decline (the activity of using such a sled is called tobogganing); also, a slang term for a winter stocking cap with a pom-pom or a tassel tomahawk (Powhatan): a light ax used as a throwing or hacking weapon; as verb, it means â€Å"use a tomahawk† totem (Ojibwe): an object, usually an animal or plant, serving as a family or clan emblem, or, more often, a carved or painted representation, often in the form of a pole fashioned from a tree trunk and carved with figures representing one’s ancestors (also, a family or clan so represented); by extension, any emblem or symbol tuckahoe (Powhatan): a type of plant with an edible root, or the edible part of a type of fungus tullibee (Ojibwe): any one of several types of whitefish wampum (Massachusett): beads of polished shells used as ceremonial gifts, money, or ornaments; also, slang for â€Å"money† wanigan (Ojibwa): a tracked or wheeled shelter towed by a tractor or mounted on a boat or raft wapiti Shawnee): another word for elk wickiup (Fox): a hut or shelter made of a rough frame of vegetation wigwam (Eastern Abenaki): a hut or shelter made of a rough frame of vegetation or hides woodchuck (Algonquian): a type of marmot (a small mammal); also called a groundhog Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? 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