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)

Explanation

Though you might see the word squaw in an old book, it's considered offensive nowadays — it's an outdated term for a Native American woman or wife. Squaw comes from the Algonquian word squa, meaning "woman." Anthropologists used to use this word in academic writing, and you might also come across it in 18th- and 19th-century novels. Because of its racist and sexist overtones, however, writers now avoid using the word squaw altogether. You’re better off using a neutral word such as "woman" or "wife."

Example Sentences

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 • Sep. 8, 2022

Ms. Rose suggested a custom blend of penny royal herb, mugwort and squaw vine.

From New York Times • Jun. 16, 2011

I don't think much of Leander, now, who swam the Hellespont to see his squaw ...

From Time Magazine Archive

The flowers were gone; the birds flocked in great clouds, and among them were eider and old squaw ducks that kept to the rivers and beaches except when they migrated south.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George

Thus, among any of these tribes, when a Wolf warrior married a Hawk squaw, their children were Hawks, and not Wolves.

From The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada by Parkman, Francis