redskin

From red +‎ skin. References to indigenous Americans' skin being red can be found from the 1580s,[1] and ambiguous (disputed) instances of the term redskin or red skin exist from the 1690s,[1][2] perhaps as straightforward references to that, or perhaps in reference to tribes such as the Beothuk painting themselves with red paint.[2] However, the earliest unambiguous instances of the term are from the 1760s, apparently translating (via French peau rouge) a native term from a tribe of the Mississippi Valley.[3][4]

• Redskin

redskin (plural redskins)

1. (now sometimes considered an ethnic slur and offensive) An American Indian, a Native American.
   • 1699?, Henry Smith or Samuel Smith or a relative, possibly quoting another colonist, in a letter quoted by a descendant (which, however, Ives Goddard argues is fake):

     Ye first Meeting House was solid mayde to withstande ye wicked onsaults of the Red Skins.

Previously used neutrally, the word began to be used as a term of contempt in the late 1800s; it is now often considered offensive.

• red man
• see Thesaurus:Native American

• Washington Redskins

• Red Indian

• redskin at OneLook Dictionary Search

red +‎ skin, from skinhead.

redskin (plural redskins)

1. (anarchism, communism) An anticapitalist skinhead.
   • The above is the coat of arms of the Red & Anarchist Skinheads, a left‐wing splinter of the SHARP group, formed in 1993. It grew out of influences from the redskin culture in England.

• drinkes, kinreds