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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. 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. n. Informal Money.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Small shell beads pierced and strung, used as money and for or nament by the North American Indians. The shell was cut away, leaving only a cylinder like a Euro pean bugle. Wampum was of two kinds, white and black or dark-purple. An imitation of wampum consisting of white porcelain beads of the same shape has been made by Europeans for sale to the Indians. See the second quo tation under wampumpeag.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Small beads made from polished shells, especially white ones, formerly used as money and jewelry by certain Native American peoples.
  2. n. informal Money.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. Beads made of shells, used by the North American Indians as money, and also wrought into belts, etc., as an ornament.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. small cylindrical beads made from polished shells and fashioned into strings or belts; used by certain Native American peoples as jewelry or currency
  2. n. informal terms for money

Etymologies

  1. Abbreviated from wampumpeag (from Narragansett); falsely analysed as ‘wampum’ + ‘peag’; from ‘wamp’ ("white") + ‘umpe’ ("string") + ‘ag’ (plural suffix), in reference to the string of white shell-beads and not the individual beads. (Wiktionary)
  2. Short for wampumpeag. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “The shells of these clams are used by the Indians as money, and make what they call their wampum; they likewise serve their women for an ornament, when they intend to appear in full dress.”

    Camps and Firesides of the Revolution

  • “The shells of these clams are used by the Indians as money, and make what they call their wampum; they likewise serve their women for an ornament when they intend to appear in full dress.”

    The Conquest of Canada (Vol. 1 of 2)

  • “The word wampum [wompam], [1] which has since become a general term, was restricted by the Indians to the white beads.”

    Wampum A Paper Presented to the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia

  • “[80] That is, the French commander said that the Indians had accepted wampum from the French towns, and therefore could not complain of them.”

    Camps and Firesides of the Revolution

  • “I admired his war-girdle and moccasins, speaking somewhat carelessly of the beautiful shell-work designs as "wampum" -- an Iroquois term.”

    The Hidden Children

  • “The wampum was her family record, badge of her office; speech made while holding it was tantamount to testimony made upon the Bible.”

    Drums of Autumn

  • “The Indians had a sort of money, called wampum, which was made of clam-shells; and this strange sort of specie was likewise taken in payment of debts by the English settlers.”

    Short Stories and Selections for Use in the Secondary Schools

  • “Almost all the natives had Indian money, called wampum, which they made from abalone or clam-shells by cutting out round pieces like buttons or small, hollow beads.”

    Stories of California

  • “The Indians had a sort of money called wampum, which was made of clam-shells, and this strange sort of specie was likewise taken in payment of debts by the English settlers.”

    Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 4

  • “Rich furs, green tobacco and long strings of gay and polished shells called wampum were gladly exchanged by the Indians for bits of colored glass, beads, hatchets and knives, commencing a trade that was later extensively carried on in the north by the Hudson Bay Trading Company, and at the mouth of the river by the Dutch settlers.”

    A Treasury of Heroes and Heroines A Record of High Endeavour and Strange Adventure from 500 B.C. to 1920 A.D.

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hypernyms (3)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. string of beads
  1. beads
  1. money

same context (9)

Words that are found in similar contexts

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  1. calico
  1. gimcrack
  1. sequin
  1. bunting
  1. junkman
  1. spike-nail
  1. sapphine
  1. Montreal

reverse dictionary (8)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. peag
  1. wakiki
  1. suckauhock
  1. wampumpeag
  1. hornsnake
  1. seawane
  1. money
  1. wampum-belt

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  • reesetee You can do such a lot with a Wompom,
    You can use every part of it too.
    For work or for pleasure,
    It's a triumph, it's a treasure,
    Oh there's nothing that a Wompom cannot do.     Oct 23, 2008

  • vanishedone Where can I exchange my wampum for a wompom? Oct 23, 2008

  • reesetee Originally wampumpeag. Oct 22, 2008

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‘wampum’ has been looked up 2095 times, loved by 1 person, added to 19 lists, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 15.