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wampum

 - 5 dictionary results

wam⋅pum

  [wom-puhm, wawm-]
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–noun
1. Also called peag, seawan, sewan. cylindrical beads made from shells, pierced and strung, used by North American Indians as a medium of exchange, for ornaments, and for ceremonial and sometimes spiritual purposes, esp. such beads when white but also including the more valuable black or dark-purple varieties.
2. Informal. money.
Origin:
1630–40; short for wampumpeag
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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wam·pum   (wŏm'pəm, wôm'-)   
n.  

  1. Small cylindrical beads made from polished shells and fashioned into strings or belts, formerly used by certain Native American peoples as currency and jewelry or for ceremonial exchanges between groups. Also called peag.

  2. Informal Money.


[Short for wampumpeag.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

wampum [(wahm-puhm)]

Beads made from polished shells that some Native Americans once used as money and jewelry.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
wampum [ˈwɑmpəm]

  1. n.
    money. (From an American Indian word.) : I don't have enough wampum to swing the deal.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

wampum 
1636, shortened from wampumpeag (1627), from Algonquian (probably Narragansett) wanpanpiak "string of white shell beads," from wab "white" + ompe "string" + pl. suffix -ag.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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