Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun White shell beads used as wampum.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Strings of (originally white) wampum formerly used as tokens of value by the American In dians, and by the whites, especially in trade with the Indians.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete
wampum
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun small cylindrical beads made from polished shells and fashioned into strings or belts; used by certain Native American peoples as jewelry or currency
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Massachusett.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From a Narragansett word, from wap ‘white’ + umpe ‘string’ + -ag plural suffix.
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Examples
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They were called wampumpeag, were sewed on deer or other fine skins, and the belts thus made were used to emphasize points in negotiation or in treaties, or in speeches.
Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals William Graham Sumner 1875
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And the year before that, he came in third having tripped up on the word "wampumpeag," a string of polished beads or shells.
reesetee commented on the word wampumpeag
See wampum.
October 22, 2008