QUAHOG

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 5 July 2011

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QUAHOG  (n. pl. - S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a large, edible, thick-shelled clam of the Atlantic coast of North America

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: COHOG, QUOHOG, QUAHAUG
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
The QUAHOG is native to the Atlantic coasts of North America and derives from Narragansett (poquauhock), an Algonquian language formerly spoken in the New England area.  The English language has been greatly enriched by borrowings from the hundreds of Native American languages that were spoken in North America prior to the arrival of Europeans.  The closely related Massachusett and Narragansett tongues, for example, also gave us words such as MOOSE, PAPOOSE, POWWOW, SACHEM, SQUASH, SUCCOTASH, and WOODCHUCK.

This week’s theme: Words born in America

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