squaw

American  

[skwaw] / skwɔ /

noun

1. Older Use: Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a North American Indian woman, especially a wife.

2. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.

   1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a wife.

   2. a contemptuous term used to refer to any woman or girl.

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squaw British  

/ skwɔː /

noun

1. offensive a North American Indian woman

2. slang a woman or wife

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Sensitive Note

It can be very offensive when members of the dominant culture appropriate piecemeal bits of language to imitate or perform impressions of an ethnic or racial minority. Borrowed words like firewater, squaw, and wigwam, or imitative words like how were once used for comedic effect, but they are now considered insensitive to Native Americans and their cultures.

Etymology

Origin of squaw

An Americanism dating back to 1625–35; from Massachusett ( English spelling) squa, ussqua “woman, younger woman,” from Proto-Algonquian eθkwe·wa (unattested)

Example Sentences

This year, the State Committee on Geographic Names renamed nine places using the term “squaw” with names proposed by Washington tribes.

From Seattle Times

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the nation’s first Native American cabinet official, formally declared “squaw” a derogatory term and announced steps to remove it from federal government use and rename other derogatory place names.

From Seattle Times

In November, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who is Native American, declared the term “squaw” to be derogatory and established a task force to find replacement names for places on public land.

From Los Angeles Times

Ms. Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, issued an order last November that declared squaw as a derogatory word.

From Washington Times

Not with getting rid of “squaw,” which they support.

From Seattle Times