Word: Canuck Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Origin uncertain, often hypothesized to derive from the name or speech of an early Canadian minority, later broadened to denote all Canadians: * Since 1975, many scholars have come to think the name is from Hawaiian kanaka (“man”), a self-appellation of indentured colonial canoemen and Hawaiian sailors working off the Pacific Northwest, Arctic, and New England coasts, from French canaque (“indigenous Melanesian inhabitant of New Caledonia, Kanak”); or, more likely, American whalers’ pidgin, then re-interpreted as Can(adian) + a suffix. (More below on that [specific] putative suffix.) Compare English Kanak and German Kanake. * Some dictionaries suggest it is derived from the first syllable of Canada, or its etymon Laurentian kanata (“village”), or a related word kanuchsa meaning “villager” in either Laurentian or another Iroquoian language; with the second syllable connected to Inuktitut inuk (“man; person”), from Chinook (“Aboriginal people of the U.S. Pacific Northwest”), or another First-Nation language ending like -oc, -uc, or -uq. * Fanciful and unlikely suggestions include German genug von Canada (literally “enough of Canada”) (allegedly uttered by German mercenaries during the American War of Independence), French quelle canule (“what a bore”) (allegedly uttered by the French during a siege of Quebec), or the surname Connaught /ˈkɑ.nəxt/ (supposedly a French-Canadian nickname for the Irish). Pronunciation: /kəˈnʌk/, /kəˈnʊk/ 1. A Canadian person; specifically (archaic), a French Canadian person; a pea-souper; also (obsolete) a Canadian person of other non-English descent. Labels: Canada, US, derogatory, informal, sometimes Example: Canadians are somewhat jealous of the Americans; that they are secretly manœuvering, not exactly with the inoffensive good humor of a much respected yeoman of England, […] but rather after the inordinate example of Ahab of old, so pithily recorded by the sacred historian. Jonathan distinguishes a Dutch or French Canadian, by the term Kanuk. Example: We saw a few partridges: we also met a lusty fellow in a forest road with a keg of whisky slung round him, who called to us 'Come boys and have some grog, I'm what you call a canuck:' a (Canadian). 2. A Canadian person; specifically (archaic), a French Canadian person; a pea-souper; also (obsolete) a Canadian person of other non-English descent. Labels: Canada, US, derogatory, informal, sometimes 3. A Canadian person; specifically (archaic), a French Canadian person; a pea-souper; also (obsolete) a Canadian person of other non-English descent. Labels: Canada, US, derogatory, informal, sometimes 4. A thing from Canada. Labels: rare Example: Wha'll buy my caller herrin'? / Cod, turbot, ling, delicious farin', / Buy my caller herrin', / They're every one Kanucks! 5. A thing from Canada. Labels: historical, rare 6. A thing from Canada. Labels: US, obsolete, rare Example: I'll sit here and blow till he comes round with his old go-cart, and then I'll hang on to the tail of it, and try legs with that little Kanuck of his. Example: Forty years ago the States south of the French part of Canada procured a large number of horses from that country. These were popularly called "Canucks," and were distinguished from the horses of the country by strongly marked characteristics. […] The Canuck was thoroughly a Norman horse in all respects except size, though having more strength in proportion to size and more spirit, […] Canucks in general had excessive knee action, and were natural trotters or pacers, were not built for galloping, and not inclined to take that gait; […]