musquaw

English

Etymology

From a Native American (probably Algonquian) word. Perhaps from Abenaki moskwas (“muskrat, musquash”). The use of a Native American word for one animal to designate a different animal was not uncommon; compare woodchuck (“groundhog”), from an Algonquian word for the fisher marten.

Noun

musquaw (plural musquaws)

  1. The American black bear.

References

  • musquaw in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
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