chinquapin

English

Alternative forms

chinkapin, chincapin

Etymology

Like its cognate / alternative form chinkapin, chinquapin is an alteration of chechinquamin / chincomen (the form found in early records), from an Algonquian language (sometimes said specifically to be from Powhatan). The final element is *mini (“berry, fruit”). Hewitt suggested that the first element was a word meaning "large, great" cognate to xinkw- (“big, large, great”).[1]

Noun

chinquapin (plural chinquapins)

Any of the trees in the genus Castanopsis.
Any of the trees and shrubs in the genus Chrysolepis.
A water chinquapin, the water plant Nelumbo lutea, American lotus.
The redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus).
A species in the chestnut genus Castanea:
A chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii), a species of oak whose leaves resemble those of chestnut-genus chinquapins.

Translations

shrub in the genus Castanopsis

Cherokee: ᎤᎾᎩᎾ (unagina)

German: Scheinkastanie f

References

Bulletin 30 of the Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico: "Such forms as chincomen and chechinquamin, found in early writings, make plausible the supposition that a p was later substituted for an m in the last syllable of the word, which would then represent the widespread Algonquian radical min, 'fruit', 'seed'. The first component [...], according to Hewitt, is probably cognate with the Delaware chinqua, 'large', 'great'.

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[1] Bulletin 30 of the Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico: "Such forms as chincomen and chechinquamin, found in early writings, make plausible the supposition that a p was later substituted for an m in the last syllable of the word, which would then represent the widespread Algonquian radical min, 'fruit', 'seed'. The first component [...], according to Hewitt, is probably cognate with the Delaware chinqua, 'large', 'great'.