calumet

American  

[kal-yuh-met, kal-yuh-met] / ˈkæl jəˌmɛt, ˌkæl jəˈmɛt /

noun

1. a long-stemmed, ornamented tobacco pipe used by North American Indians on ceremonial occasions, especially in token of peace.

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calumet British  

/ ˈkæljʊˌmɛt /

noun

1. a less common name for peace pipe

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Etymology

Origin of calumet

First recorded in 1710–20; from French, originally dialect (Norman, Picard): “pipe stem,” a by-form of French chalumeau “reed flute, stem of a reed,” with suffix altered to -et; see origin at chalumeau, -et

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

calumet

One of the prairie schooners is a genuine survivor of the Colorado gold rush, the calumet used at the powwow is supposed to have been sucked by Sitting Bull himself.

From Time Magazine Archive

"I do not smoke," added Big Chief Nikita, "but really, I would be happy to light the calumet together with the leaders of all powers."

From Time Magazine Archive

And then he swept his arm and the feather-fluttering calumet abroad as he described the boundless extent of the hunting grounds over which it had used to roam.

From The Westerners by Stewart Edward White

They seated themselves with us in a circle, and the head chief's calumet was passed around without any man refusing to smoke.

From A Volunteer with Pike The True Narrative of One Dr. John Robinson and of His Love for the Fair Señorita Vallois by Robert Ames Bennet

If anything supplied tobacco for the calumet of the ex parte peace which he had made with his son, it was this theatrical part.

From Titan: A Romance v. 1 (of 2) by Jean Paul Friedrich Richter

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