chinquapin
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Like its cognate / alternative form chinkapin, chinquapin is an alteration of chechinquamin / chincomen (the form found in early records), from an Algonquian language (sometimes said specifically to be from Powhatan). The final element is *mini (“berry, fruit”). Hewitt suggested that the first element was a word meaning "large, great" cognate to xinkw- (“big, large, great”).[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
chinquapin (plural chinquapins)
- Any of certain species of tree in the chestnut genus Castanea:
- Any in the genus Castanopsis of trees.
- Any in the genus Chrysolepis of trees and shrubs.
- A chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii), whose leaves resemble those of chestnut-genus chinquapins.
- A water chinquapin, an aquatic plant of species Nelumbo lutea, American lotus.
- A redear sunfish, a freshwater fish of the southeastern US (Lepomis microlophus).
- Synonyms: shellcracker, Georgia bream, cherry gill, chinquapin, improved bream, rouge ear sunfish, sun perch
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
shrub in the genus Castanopsis
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References[edit]
- ^ Bulletin 30 of the Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico: "Such forms as chincomen and chechinquamin, found in early writings, make plausible the supposition that a p was later substituted for an m in the last syllable of the word, which would then represent the widespread Algonquian radical min, 'fruit', 'seed'. The first component [...], according to Hewitt, is probably cognate with the Delaware chinqua, 'large', 'great'.