pemmican

American  

[pem-i-kuhn] / ˈpɛm ɪ kən /

Or pemican

noun

1. dried meat pounded into a powder and mixed with hot fat and dried fruits or berries, pressed into a loaf or into small cakes, originally prepared by North American Indians.

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pemmican British  

/ ˈpɛmɪkən /

noun

1. a small pressed cake of shredded dried meat, pounded into paste with fat and berries or dried fruits, used originally by American Indians and now chiefly for emergency rations

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Etymology

Origin of pemmican

1735–45; < Cree pimihka·n, derivative of pimihke·w he makes pemmican (mixing together the grease and other ingredients), he makes grease < Proto-Algonquian *pemihke·wa, equivalent to *pemy- grease + *-ehke· make

Example Sentences

Some tribes still make pemmican today and even market a commercial version.

From Salon • Nov. 9, 2023

It was designed to pound meat and berries to make pemmican.

From Washington Times • May 30, 2015

I read all the Swallows and Amazons books and hoarded the sailor speak – pemmican, hitch knots, port and starboard and wake – while having no desire whatsoever to run away to sea.

From The Guardian • May 30, 2013

Many of the men ate pemmican, a dried meat mixture concocted by Native Americans.

From Washington Post • Jul. 15, 2011

But they arrived safely at the tent, and by the time the others came up had a good steaming pemmican soup ready.

From The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 3 by Whymper, Frederick