redskin

American  

[red-skin] / ˈrɛdˌskɪn /

noun

Older Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.

1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a North American Indian.

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redskin British  

/ ˈrɛdˌskɪn /

noun

1. an old-fashioned informal name, now considered taboo, for a Native American

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Sensitive Note

The date and origin of this term is in dispute. Evidence seems to show that in the 1760s, French colonists in the Mississippi Valley translated a Native American spoken term into the French language as peau rouge , which was then translated into English as redskin. Through the early part of the 19th century, American Indians continued to use their Native word self-referentially, and it was translated into spoken and written English as redskin with no derogatory connotations, even as a term of respect. However, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, within the historical context of white-Indian hostilities, use of the term redskin was associated with attitudes of contempt and condescension. By the 1960s, redskin had declined in use and is now understood to be offensive.

Usage

Why is redskin trending? On July 3, 2020, searches for redskin increased 3,047% compared to the previous week after calls mounted for the Washington Redskins football team to change its name.

Etymology

Origin of redskin

?1760–70; red ¹ + skin; probably loan translation of French peau rouge , itself translated from an American Indian term

Example Sentences

Sample Clubhouse Orders I'll have two fried eggs with applewood smoked bacon and rosemary redskin potatoes.

From Golf Digest • Oct. 16, 2013

HE reached the West in a palace car where the writers tell us the cowboys are, With the redskin bold and the centipede and the rattlesnake and the loco weed.

From Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp by Lomax, John Avery

"White dove come with me—boy no killed—be right by-an-by," said the redskin.

From The Boy Land Boomer Dick Arbuckle's Adventures in Oklahoma by Fry, W. H.

She had scarce ceased, when the redskin gave a convulsive start, resembling a dying spasm, and got once more safely above the hungry swamp.

From Annette, the Metis Spy by Collins, J. E. (Joseph Edmund)

Many others besides myself were on the quay, doubtless drawn hither for the same purpose—priests, soldiers, soberly-clad citizens, several coureurs-de-bois, and a redskin or two.

From The Cryptogram A Story of Northwest Canada by Graydon, William Murray