wampum
/ˈwɑmpəm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.10 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Small cylindrical beads made from polished shells (especially white ones) which have been strung together, formerly used by Native American peoples of eastern North America for various purposes including as jewellery and money, and for record-keeping; (countable, archaic) one such bead.
Uncountable
noun
Ellipsis of wampum snake (“the common kingsnake or eastern kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula)”).
Countable; Obsolete
Example Sentences
- "[A]mong the Red Men of America the giving of the white belt of wampum was the deepest pledge of honor; […]"
- "From his lodge went Hiawatha, / Dressed for travel, armed for hunting; / Dressed in deer-skin shirt and leggings, / Richly wrought with quills and wampum; / On his head his eagle-feathers, / Round his waist his belt of wampum, […]"
- "These title deeds are of wampum, the grant of an Indian chief to the first Dowell, who left Farnham in Surrey in company with William Penn."
- "[Kenneth O'Keefe, letter] Have that seven quid. Or else I'll be kaput. […] [Sebastian Dangerfield, letter in reply] Kenneth, we all want wampum. And as you must know, if only I had some I would be only too willing to share. But the only thing I have here is a pile of business magazines which I am going to burn for a fire."
- "[M]ore and more people in the folk world suddenly discovered there was more than a little wampum to be made by discovering a trace of Indian blood in their past and donning the traditional headband."
Etymology
Clipping of wampumpeag (“wampum”), probably borrowed from Massachusett wampompeage (“string of white beads used as money”). Compare peag (“string of white beads used as money”), also a clipping of wampumpeag. Noun sense 3 (“common kingsnake”) is from the similarity of the snake’s appearance to a string of wampum. Cognates Penobscot wάpαpəyak (singular wάpαpi) Unami òpapiàk (singular òpapi)
Word Breakdown
- Root: wampompeage
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɑmpəm/
- British English: /ˈwɒmpəm/