pickaninny


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pick·a·nin·ny

 (pĭk′ə-nĭn′ē)
n. pl. pick·a·nin·nies Offensive
Used as a disparaging term for a young black child.

[Of West Indian creole and African creole origin; akin to Jamaican Patwa picknie, Krio (English-based creole of Sierra Leone) pikin, and Tok Pisin pikinini, child, all from a Portuguese-based pidgin, from Portuguese pequenino, diminutive of pequeno, small, Spanish pequeñ:o and Italian piccino, small.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pickaninny

(ˌpɪkəˈnɪnɪ)
n, pl -nies
a variant spelling (esp US) of piccaninny
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pick•a•nin•ny

or pic•a•nin•ny

(ˈpɪk əˌnɪn i)

n., pl. -nies.
usage: This term, though not usually used with disparaging intent, is perceived as highly insulting.
n.
Older Use: Extremely Offensive. (a term used to refer to a black child.)
[1645–55; probably ultimately < Portuguese pequenino, diminutive of pequeno small; compare Jamaican Creole E pickney small child]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.pickaninny - (ethnic slur) offensive term for a Black child
derogation, disparagement, depreciation - a communication that belittles somebody or something
ethnic slur - a slur on someone's race or language
Black person, blackamoor, Negro, Negroid, Black - a person with dark skin who comes from Africa (or whose ancestors came from Africa)
child, kid, minor, nipper, tiddler, youngster, tike, shaver, small fry, nestling, fry, tyke - a young person of either sex; "she writes books for children"; "they're just kids"; "`tiddler' is a British term for youngster"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
"Maybe one fella boy hear 'm pickaninny dog sing out, I give
At the end of half an hour he was offering "Two ten fathoms calico and ten ten sticks tobacco" to the boy who first heard "pickaninny dog sing out."
What name you fella boy make 'm pickaninny dog belong along me walk about along water?"
If Miss d'Arnault stopped practising for a moment and went toward the window, she saw this hideous little pickaninny, dressed in an old piece of sacking, standing in the open space between the hollyhock rows, his body rocking automatically, his blind face lifted to the sun and wearing an expression of idiotic rapture.
At such times the hush of death falls on the village, and not even a pickaninny dares make a noise.
But "Clean the Pickaninny" aint much fun by your lonesome.
Aboriginal Australians were called 'savages'; California cotton workers were dubbed offensive slurs like 'pickaninny'; and the magazine admitted that it wouldn't have covered Haile Selassie's 1930 coronation if he were a black man in America.
Owen and another African-American employee at Tesla's Fremont, Calif., factory say they found images of "Pickaninny graffiti." The crude drawings on cardboard show dark-skinned people with large lips and bones through their noses.
(6) Las imagenes caricaturescas del Peru que componen nuestro corpus dialogan en terminos formales con estas representaciones visuales, asi como tambien con las connotaciones y roles asignados a estos personajes, siendo posible encontrar referencias a tres de los estereotipos norteamericanos mas comunes: el coon, la mammy y el pickaninny.
"Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!" she said and pointed to a Negro child standing in the door of a shack.
Uncle Tom (the faithful servant) and Pickaninny children (or little Negro children) were also discussed on several occasions.