pickaninny

or pic·a·nin·ny, pic·ca·nin·ny

[ pik-uh-nin-ee ]

/ ˈpɪk əˌnɪn i /

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noun, plural pick·a·nin·nies.Older Use: Now Offensive.

a term used to refer to a Black child.

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Origin of pickaninny

First recorded in 1645–55; probably ultimately from Portuguese pequenino, diminutive of pequeno “small”; as a word for “small child,” pickaninny and its variants are widespread in English-based creoles of the New World and West Africa; compare Jamaican English pickney, West African English pickin “small child”

usage note for pickaninny

Pickaninny is a dated term, originally used in a neutral or even affectionate way in the West Indies, but now perceived as insulting.

Words nearby pickaninny

pick a bone with, pick and choose, pick and mix, pick-and-roll, pick-and-shovel, pickaninny, pick apart, pick a quarrel, pickaroon, pick at, pickax

How to use pickaninny in a sentence

Piccaninny, Pickaninny, pik′a-nin-i, n. a little child: an African or negro child.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)|Various
Having bought a fowl from a native in a canoe, the native asked me if I wanted “Pickaninny stop along him fella.”
The Cruise of the Snark|Jack London
Presently a Pickaninny came along with a small keg in his hands.
Queer Stories for Boys and Girls|Edward Eggleston
Just as I got out there came along the Pickaninny that had gone over on the rainbow.
Queer Stories for Boys and Girls|Edward Eggleston

British Dictionary definitions for pickaninny

pickaninny

/ (ˌpɪkəˈnɪnɪ) /

noun plural -nies

a variant spelling (esp US) of piccaninny

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012