Whence
Raccoon (the word)
Word

Where does Raccoon (the word) come from?

The word raccoon comes from Tidewater Virginia. English colonists took it in the early 1600s from Powhatan, the Algonquian language spoken around Jamestown, and it roughly means 'the one who scratches with its hands'.

A Powhatan name

Powhatan, or Virginia Algonquian, was the language of the Powhatan people of tidewater Virginia. English colonists arrived in 1607 and founded Jamestown, and because they depended on the Powhatan for food in the early years, they had to learn some of the language. Captain John Smith recorded only about 50 words, the colonist William Strachey about 500. Smith wrote the animal's name as aroughcun and Strachey as arathkone. Etymologists trace it to the Powhatan arahkunem, 'he scratches with the hands'.

From aroughcun to raccoon

Merriam-Webster dates the first known use of the word in English to 1608. Early spellings such as raugroughcun and arocoun gave way to raccoon, also spelled racoon. The colonists had good reason to know the animal. During the period known as the Starving Time, raccoons became food at Jamestown, and archaeologists there have found many raccoon bones with cut marks from butchery.

Why it sounds English

Raccoon looks like an everyday English word, but the animal is native to North America, and to describe it Smith had to compare it with creatures the English knew: 'There is a beast they call Aroughcun, much like a badger, but useth to live on trees as Squirrels doe.' Raccoon is one of many words English took from Powhatan, among them hickory, hominy, opossum, persimmon, terrapin and tomahawk. The language itself had likely vanished by 1790, and descendants of the Powhatan peoples are working to revive it.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org › Raccoon ↗ · en.wikipedia.org › Powhatan language ↗ · merriam-webster.com ↗ · historicjamestowne.org ↗ · etymonline.com ↗

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