squaw

English[edit]

From Massachusett squàw (“woman”), from Proto-Algonquian *eθkwe·wa (“(young) woman”). Cognate with Abenaki -skwa (“female, wife”), Mohegan-Pequot sqá, Cree iskwew / ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ (iskeyw, “woman”), Ojibwe ikwe (“woman”). In the 1970s, some non-linguists began to claim that the word originally meant "vagina"; this has been discredited.^[1]

squaw (plural squaws)

Previously used neutrally, the word began to be used as a term of contempt in the late 1800s; it is now generally considered offensive.

Derived terms

a woman, wife; especially a Native American woman

^ Ives Goddard, The True History of the Word Squaw, in Indian Country News (April 1997), page 17A

squaw f (plural squaws)

squaw (not pejorative in French), Native American woman
Ces chefs, au nombre d'une douzaine, n’avaient point amené leurs femmes, malheureuses « squaws » qui ne s’élèvent guère au-dessus de la condition d’esclaves. (Jules Verne, Le Pays des fourrures, 1873)