Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Indigenous languages ·1610s
Moccasin
from mocassin (Powhatan / Virginia Algonquian)
- Meaning
- A soft leather shoe.
- Source word
- mocassin (Powhatan / Virginia Algonquian)
- Route into English
- Recorded by English colonists in the Jamestown settlement. One of the earliest Algonquian loanwords in English, alongside *raccoon*, *squash*, and *terrapin*.
- Arrived
- 1610s
From Indigenous languages
A loose group: Nahuatl, Taino, Algonquian, Guugu Yimithirr, and others. Colonial contact produced many loans; the speakers were often systematically dispossessed of the land the loanwords described.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.