mukluk

English

Alternative forms

• makluk, mackaluck, muck-a-luck, muckluck, muck-luck, muckluk, mucluc, muklek

Etymology

Borrowed from Yup'ik maklak (“bearded seal”), referring to sealskin used to make boots, originally derived from Proto-Eskimo *makla (“bearded seal, spotted seal”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmʌklʌk/

Noun

mukluk (plural mukluks)

1. (Canada, US) A soft knee-high boot of sealskin or reindeer skin, originally worn by Inuit and Yupik.
   • 1898 December 8, Medicine Hat News, page 5:

     Her parkee, made of Caribou, it is a lovely fit, / And she's all right from muck-a-luck unto her dainty mit. / This lovely Klooch is fond of Hooch, and makes it very well.

2. (Canada, US) A laced winter boot resembling a traditional mukluk, with thick rubber sole and cloth upper.
   • 1966 April 27, Kingston Whig-Standard, page 26:

     [...] the Canadians’ [soldiers’] mukluks and sleeping bags were superior to anything in use. the mukluk, a rubber-soled boot with a calf-high outer nylon cover, has a thick woollen inner boot that keeps feet warm in the coldest of weather.

   • 2004, Paola Gianturco, Celebrating Women:

     The skin is used to make mukluks, hats, parkas. We are resourceful and respectful of the animals, the land.

Synonyms

• Eskimo boot
• mukluk boot
• snowshoe, snow shoe

Derived terms

• mukluked
• mukluk telegraph
• mukluk wireless

See also

• kamik

Further reading

• “mukluk, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023.
• “mukluk” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Stefan Dollinger, Margery Fee, editors (2017), “mukluk, n.”, in DCHP-2 Online: A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, 2nd edition, Vancouver, B.C.: University of British Columbia, →OCLC.

Spanish

Noun

mukluk m (plural mukluks)

1. mukluk