scuppernong

English
WOTD – 1 July 2012
Muscadines (red, small) and scuppernongs (green, large) in a bowl.

Etymology

Named after the Scuppernong River and Lake in North Carolina near which the grapes were first found and cultivated. Probably from an Algonquian word.[1] Both senses, "grape" and "wine", are first found in documents from the 1800s-1820s.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈskʌpənɒŋ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈskʌ.pəɹˌnɔŋ/, /ˈskʌ.pəɹˌnɑŋ/
  • Hyphenation: scup‧per‧nong

Noun

scuppernong (plural scuppernongs)

  1. A large greenish-bronze grape native to the Southeastern United States, a variety of the muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia).
  2. A sweet, golden or amber-colored US wine made from this variety of grape.

Usage notes
  • A great many alternative forms and pronunciations of this word are found. The most common, attested since the 1820s-40s, is scuppernon / scuppanon /ˈskʌp.ər.ˌnɔn/, /ˈskʌp.ə.ˌnɔn/. Scupperdine / scuppadine is also encountered; this is properly the name of a scuppernong-muscadine cross.

References
  1. Bland Simpson and Ann Cary Simpson, in Into the Sound Country: A Carolinian's Coastal Plain, suggest "Askúponong"
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