meeple
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Blend of my + people. Coined in November of 2000 by Alison Hansel during a game of Carcassonne when she fused "my" and "people" to describe the wooden figures used by each player in that game. see this interview of Hansel. It was then spread in a Session Report for November 25, 2000 (by Dave Bernazzani) and on a google group dedicated to talking about the game, citing Hansel as its creator. A day earlier user David Vander Ark referenced the term, but did not cite Hansel[1]. Bernazzani and Hansel were a part of the South Shore Gamers, a board gaming group who meet weekly in south-shore Boston[2] .
The board gamer Mark Edwards (dangermouse)was present that night and wrote in the google group : "The only thing I clearly remember about that session was that you guys were playing Carcasonne nearby. At some point Alison stuttered "mypeeple" and we proceeded to laugh and repeat using the word "meeple" for the rest of the night. I also remember Alison cooing over her "meeples" cuz she thought they were so cute".[3]. They also seem to have posted this Unity Games yahoo group message.
The word had spread enough in 2001 that it was used in the title of the Meeples' Choice Awards[4].
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmiːpəl/
- Rhymes: -iːpəl
Noun[edit]
meeple (plural meeples or meeple)
- A small person-shaped figure used as a player's token in a board game.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:meeple.