POTLATCH

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 2 July 2012

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Word of the Day:

POTLATCH  (n. pl. -ES)  (v. -ED, -ING, -ES)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a ceremonial feast marked by gift giving and sometimes the destruction of property as a show of wealth and status, especially as practiced by Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest and the northwest coast of Canada
2. (n.) any party, feast, or celebration
3. (v.) to hold a potlatch feast or celebration

Useful info for word game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: (none)
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: potlatchED, potlatchES, potlatchING
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Current theme:

Words born in America

Epilogue:

Native American languages have contributed many words to the English language, mostly owing to the close contact between cultures in the early periods of European settlement in the Americas.  Last year, we looked at QUAHOG and other words from the Atlantic coast of America, mostly borrowed in colonial times.  Much later, in the nineteenth century, along the Pacific Northwest of the United States and up the northwest coast of Canada to Alaska, an unusual pidgin language known as Chinook Jargon developed to facilitate trade among the various peoples of those lands.  As writer Douglas Harper describes it, Chinook Jargon was “a mish-mash of native, French, and English words once used as a lingua franca in the Pacific Northwest.”

The word POTLATCH was borrowed during this period, deriving from the Wakashan patshatl, meaning “"giving, or gift.”  It is still used chiefly in the Northwestern United States and Canada.  The word is not etymologically related to POTLUCK — which is an English word, dating from the sixteenth century and derived from a straightforward combination of POT and LUCK, i.e. “to take one’s chances on what may be in the pot” — but the similarity in sound and rough meaning has led to the two words sometimes being used interchangeably or imprecisely.

Other words most likely from Chinook or Chinook Jargon include CHEECHAKO (a newcomer), MUCKAMUCK (an important person), SALTCHUCK (a body of salt water), SKOOKUM (excellent or large), and TYEE (a chief or boss, or a type of salmon).  Finally, the word CHINOOK itself, obviously derived from the name of the Indian tribe, refers to “a warm dry wind of the Pacific Northwest or the slopes of the Rocky Mountains.”

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