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wampum definition

☆ wam·pum (wäm′pəm)

noun

  1. small beads made of shells and used by North American Indians as money, for ornament, etc.: they were of two varieties, white and the more valuable black (or dark purple)
  2. Slang money

Etymology: earlier wampompeag < Massachusett (cf. Abenaki wαpαpəyak, wampum strings < wαp-, white + -αpi, string + -ak, pl.)

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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