hackmatack

English

Etymology

Believed to derive from Abenaki, though no specific etymon has been found.[1][2] The term is first attested in the 1760s–90s,[1][2] when it was spelled hakmantak[1][2][3] and referred to dense forest.[1]

In the 19th century, some authorities questioned if tacamahac, tamarack, and hackmatack could be cognate to one another, perhaps all corruptions of one term, but such cognacy is unlikely.[4]

Compare the late 19th century German Low German term Hackemtackem (“tacamahac (medicinal resin)”).

Noun

hackmatack (plural hackmatacks)

  1. A larch, a tree of the species Larix laricina.
  2. A balsam poplar, a tree of the species Populus balsamifera.

Quotations

  • 1867, Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the year 1866, page 483:
    The hackmatack is remarkable for having a principle root, which sometimes equals in size the trunk to which it belongs.

Synonyms

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 “hackmatack” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  2. 1 2 3 Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. unabridged.merriam-webster.com ({{{1}}})
  3. ↑ 1961, Maryland Historical Magazine, volume 56, page 29: Some 37 percent of the Constellation still remains in Newport. […] She retains knees from the hackmantack brought up in boats in 1796.
  4. ↑ 1902, Journal of American Folklore, volume 15, page 260
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