Chinquapin

//ˈt͡ʃɪnkəpɪn// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of certain species of tree in the chestnut genus Castanea:; Allegheny chinkapin (Castanea pumila)
  2. 2
    small nut of either of two small chestnut trees of the southern United States; resembles a hazelnut wordnet
  3. 3
    Any of certain species of tree in the chestnut genus Castanea:; Ozark chinkapin (Castanea ozarkensis)
  4. 4
    shrubby chestnut tree of southeastern United States having small edible nuts wordnet
  5. 5
    Any of certain species of tree in the chestnut genus Castanea:; Chinese chinkapin (Castanea henryi)
Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    shrubby tree closely related to the Allegheny chinkapin but with larger leaves; southern midwestern United States wordnet
  2. 7
    Any in the genus Castanopsis of trees.
  3. 8
    Any in the genus Chrysolepis of trees and shrubs.
  4. 9
    Quercus muehlenbergii, a tree whose leaves resemble those of chestnut-genus chinquapins.
  5. 10
    A water chinquapin, an aquatic plant of species Nelumbo lutea, American lotus.
  6. 11
    A redear sunfish, a freshwater fish of the southeastern US (Lepomis microlophus).

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”).

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