squaw

English

Etymology

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. The first recorded version of the word was found in a book called Mourt’s Relation: A Journey of the Pilgrims at Plymouth written in 1622. The term was not used in a derogatory fashion but spoke of the "squa sachim or Massachusets Queen" in a journal entry on September 20, 1621.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skwɔː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː

Noun

squaw (plural squaws)

1. (now offensive, ethnic slur) A woman, wife; especially a Native American woman.
   • 1963, Lester del Rey, The Sky Is Falling:

     The Indian maids, of course, turned out to be a few fat old squaws who knew all about white men.

Usage notes

• Previously used neutrally, the word began to be used as a term of contempt in the late 1800s; it is now generally considered offensive. See Squaw § Historical usage on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Derived terms

• oldsquaw
• squawberry
• squawbush
• squaw candy
• squaw carpet
• squawdom
• squaw dress
• squawfish
• squaw flower
• Squaw Grove
• squaw huckleberry
• squaw man
• squaw mint
• squawroot
• squaw tea
• Squaw Valley
• squaw vine
• squawweed
• squaw winter

Translations

a woman, wife; especially a Native American woman

• Bulgarian: индианка f (indianka)
• Esperanto: skvo
• French: squaw (fr) f
• Polish: squaw (pl) f
• Portuguese: mulher índia (especialmente norte americana) f
• Russian: скво (ru) f (skvo)

French

Etymology

From English squaw.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skwo/

Noun

squaw f (plural squaws)

1. squaw (not pejorative in French), Native American woman

   Synonym: Amérindienne

   • 1873, Jules Verne, Le Pays des fourrures:

     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.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Further reading

• “squaw”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.