pickaninny

pick·a·nin·ny

P p

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [pik-uh-nin-ee]
- /ˈpɪk əˌnɪn i/
- /ˈpɪk.ə.nɪ.nɪ/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [pik-uh-nin-ee]
- /ˈpɪk əˌnɪn i/

Definitions of pickaninny word

noun plural pickaninny a term used to refer to a black child. 1
noun pickaninny a black child 0

See all 2 definitions of pickaninny

Information block about the term

Origin of pickaninny

First appearance:

before 1645

One of the 44% oldest English words

1645-55; probably ultimately < Portuguese pequenino, diminutive of pequeno small; as a word for “small child,” pickaninny and its variants are widespread in English-based creoles of the New World and West Africa; compare Jamaican English pickney, West African English pickin small child

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Pickaninny

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Pickaninny

pickaninny popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 40% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

pickaninny usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer