View synonyms for wampum

wampum

[ wom-puhm, wawm- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Also called peag, seawan,. cylindrical beads made from shells, pierced and strung, used by North American Indians as a medium of exchange, for ornaments, and for ceremonial and sometimes spiritual purposes, especially such beads when white but also including the more valuable black or dark-purple varieties.
Informal: Often Offensive. money.

wampum

/ ˈwɒmpəm /

(formerly) money used by North American Indians, made of cylindrical shells strung or woven together, esp white shells rather than the more valuable black or purple ones
informal.
money or wealth

wampum

Beads made from polished shells that some Native Americans once used as money and jewelry.

Origin of wampum¹

First recorded in 1630–40; short for wampumpeag

Origin of wampum¹

C17: short for wampumpeag, from Narraganset wampompeag, from wampan light + api string + -ag plural suffix

America with lakes of lucre, waves of wampum, a Superstorm Sandy of simoleons, a Hurricane Katrina of cash.

Take blankets and beads to the Wyandots and watch them hang up white wampum.

But wampum, like the race for whom it was made, was unable to hold its ground against the advancing civilization.

The beads found in them are very like those which the barbarous Indians called wampum and used as money.

He took off his head-dress and bracelets, both being of yellow leather edged with wampum, and presented them to Cartier.

As I embarked to return, he put the white wampum around my neck—a pledge of truth, my sweetheart, my Algonquin.

April 23, 2024inveterate

[in-vet-er-it ]

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