moccasin
American Heritage Dictionary:
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moc·ca·sin
(mŏk'ə-sĭn) 
n.
n.
- A soft leather slipper traditionally worn by certain Native American peoples.
- Footwear resembling such a slipper.
- A water moccasin.
[Of Virginia Algonquian origin, akin to Powhatan mäkäsĭn, shoe, and Ojibwa makisin.]
Fowler's Modern English Usage:
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moccasin
a name of a snake and a type of soft leather shoe, is the recommended spelling, with two cs and one s.
| mnemonic, mitre, misquotations | |
| modal verbs, model, modus operandi |
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
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moccasin
Either of two species of pit viper: the water moccasin or the Mexican moccasin (Agkistrodon bilineatus). The Mexican moccasin, or cantil, is a dangerous snake of lowland regions from the Rio Grande to Nicaragua. About 3 ft (1 m) long, it is brown or black with narrow, irregular, whitish bars on its back and sides. copperhead.
For more information on moccasin, visit Britannica.com.
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from Virginia Algonquian (Powhatan)
This word originated in United States
The arrival of three shiploads of English speakers at a place they called Jamestown on May 14, 1607, marked the beginning of English immigration to North America and the beginning of a period of intensive immigration of American Indian words to the English language. Down the road, the first natives the English encountered were ones they called Powhatans after the name of their chief. They and the English were uneasy neighbors, but after some touchy encounters, the chief's daughter Pocahontas saved Captain John Smith's life and sent the English enough food to keep them from starving.
The Virginia Algonquians also provided important words to describe the creatures and cultures of their land, including in the first years of English presence raccoon (1609), opossum (1610), tomahawk (1611), and persimmon (1612). Among the most notable contributions was a kind of footwear unfamiliar to the English: the moccasin. In his 1612 glossary of Indian words, Captain Smith lists "Mockasins: Shoes."
Ever since, moccasins have been admired by Americans of all ancestries. They have special potency in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 Song of Hiawatha, or at least Hiawatha's moccasins do:
There are perhaps 3,000 Powhatans, or Virginia Algonquians, still living in eastern Virginia nowadays, but their Algonquian language is long since extinct.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
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moccasin
moccasin, skin shoe worn by indigenous people of North America, excepting the sandal wearers of the Southwest area. There were two general types of moccasins, the hard-soled, which was used in the Eastern woodlands and the Southeast cultural areas, and the soft-soled, used in the Plains area. The hard-soled moccasin was made by sewing, with sinew thread, a rawhide sole to a leather upper piece; the soft-soled moccasin was one piece of soft leather with a seam at the instep and the heel. Boot or legging moccasins (sometimes reaching the hip) were worn from Alaska to Arizona and New Mexico, but they were generally part of the woman's costume. The moccasins of certain tribes were distinctive, and sometimes a moccasin track could indicate the tribe of the wearer. Moccasins were usually symbolically decorated with porcupine quills and, after the coming of the Europeans, with glass beads. Special moccasins were used for ceremonies such as the Iroquois adoption service, which required that a recruit put on Iroquois moccasins to indicate that he would follow Iroquois ways.
Word Tutor:
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moccasin
IN BRIEF: A foot covering made of soft leather or buckskin.
A leather moccasin was found beside the soft forested path.
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Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'moccasin'
- snakes
- Shoes and Footwear - moccasin: soft leather, heelless shoe with sole stitched to upper
Translations:
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Moccasin
Nederlands (Dutch)
mocassin, indiaanse schoen
Français (French)
n. - mocassin
Deutsch (German)
n. - Mokassin
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (παπούτσι) μοκασίνι, παπούτσι των Ινδιάνων της Αμερικής, δέρμα μοκασέν, (ζωολ.) αγχιστρόδους, νερόφιδο
Português (Portuguese)
n. - mocassim (m)
Español (Spanish)
n. - mocasín
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - mockasin, mjukt hjortskinn, mockasinorm
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
鹿皮鞋, 软拖鞋
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 鹿皮鞋, 軟拖鞋
한국어 (Korean)
n. - (인디언의) 노루 가죽신발, 독사의 일종
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) نوع من أنواع الأحذيه المصنوعه من جلد الغزال
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - מוקסין (נעל), נחש מים ארסי, הנמצא באיזור דרום-מזרח ארה"ב
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
Houghton Mifflin's International Word Origins
The World in So Many Words, by Allan A. Metcalf. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
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