Words From the First Americans: Algonquian English

About Words From the First Americans: Algonquian English

Give your memory a workout with Words From the First Americans: Algonquian English: 15 multiple-choice questions aimed at mixed difficulty, free to play right in your browser. Dozens of words in everyday English were borrowed from Native American languages centuries ago — and you probably use them without ever knowing it. Expect to spend about 7 minutes; every question comes with an explanation, so you learn something even when you miss.

A few sample questions

1. 1. Which everyday English word for soft leather footwear was borrowed from the Powhatan language of Virginia?

   Answer: Moccasin

   "Moccasin" comes from the Powhatan word "mockassin," first recorded by English colonists in early-17th-century Virginia who learned it from the people who made and wore them.

2. 2. The word "wigwam" — a dome-shaped Native American dwelling — was borrowed from which Algonquian language?

   Answer: Abenaki

   "Wigwam" derives from the Abenaki word "wikuwam," meaning "their dwelling," which English colonists adopted through contact with peoples in New England.

3. 3. Which large North American animal gets its English name from the Eastern Abenaki word "moz," meaning "he strips bark"?

   Answer: Moose

   "Moose" comes from the Eastern Abenaki word "moz," a reference to the animal's habit of stripping bark from trees to eat, adopted into English by colonists in the 1600s.

4. 4. The Narragansett word "askutasquash" gave English the vegetable name "squash." What did that original word roughly mean?

   Answer: Eaten raw or uncooked

   "Askutasquash" in the Narragansett language of present-day Rhode Island meant something like "eaten raw or uncooked," and English colonists shortened it to "squash."

5. 5. "Raccoon" was borrowed into English from the language of which Algonquian-speaking people?

   Answer: Powhatan

   "Raccoon" derives from the Powhatan word "aroughcun," recorded by English colonists in early-17th-century Virginia when they encountered the masked, ring-tailed animal.

Things you'll learn along the way

• ✓"Chipmunk" derives from the Ojibwe word "ajidamoo," often translated as "red squirrel," adopted into English as settlers spread through the Great Lakes region.
• ✓"Wampumpeag" in the Massachusett language meant "white string of beads," referring to beads crafted from white whelk shells that were widely used in trade and ceremony across the Northeast.
• ✓"Tomahawk" comes from the Powhatan word "tamahak," a term for a light hatchet, first recorded in English writings from early colonial Virginia in the 1600s.