papoose

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Narragansett papoos (“child”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pəˈpuːs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

papoose (plural papooses)

1. (US, dated, offensive) A Native American baby.
   • 1893, Bram Stoker, The Squaw:

     […] a half-breed what they nicknamed "Splinters" 'cos of the way he fixed up her papoose which he stole on a raid […]

   • 1930, Edna Ferber, Cimarron, page 11:

     They say he has Indian blood in him. They say he has an Indian wife somewhere, and a lot of papooses. Cherokee.

   • 1957, Jack Kerouac, chapter 8, in On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC, part 2:

     In the empty Houston streets of four o’clock in the morning a motorcycle kid suddenly roared through, all bespangled and bedecked with glittering buttons, visor, slick black jacket, a Texas poet of the night, girl gripped on his back like a papoose, […]

2. (UK) A backpack for carrying a baby, or specifically a cradleboard.

Coordinate terms

• squaw
• buck

Derived terms

• papoose board
• papoose root
• pooseback