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 English attestation of the word is found in a book called Mourt’s Relation: A Journey of the Pilgrims at Plymouth written in 1622, where the "squa sachim or Massachusets Queen" is mentioned in a journal entry from September 20, 1621. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /skwɔː/ Rhymes: -ɔː === Noun === squaw (plural squaws) (now offensive, ethnic slur) A woman, wife; especially a Native American woman. ==== 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 the Wikipedia article on the word on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === == French == === Etymology === From English squaw. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /skwo/ === Noun === squaw f (plural squaws) squaw (not pejorative in French), Native American woman Synonym: Amérindienne === Further reading === “squaw”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012