piccaninny
Britishnoun
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offensive a small Black or Aboriginal child
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(modifier) tiny
a piccaninny fire won't last long
Etymology
Origin of piccaninny
C17: perhaps from Portuguese pequenino tiny one, from pequeno small
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Me bin grow up little piccaninny longa bush....
From In the Musgrave Ranges by Sayce, Conrad H. (Conrad Harvey)
She ’memba dan’lin you on her knee, when you wa’ bit piccaninny, not bigger dan a ’possum.
From The Yellow Chief by Reid, Mayne
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
