Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Indigenous languages ·1770s
Pecan
from pakani
- Meaning
- A North American nut tree and its edible nut.
- Source word
- pakani
- Route into English
- Algonquian *pakani* (a hard nut needing a stone to crack) → American English. The pronunciation (pee-can vs puh-kahn) is one of American English's longest-running regional disputes.
- Arrived
- 1770s
From Indigenous languages
A loose group: Nahuatl, Taino, Algonquian, Guugu Yimithirr, and others. Colonial contact produced many loans; the speakers were often systematically dispossessed of the land the loanwords described.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.