13 September 2016

wampum

[wom-puh m, wawm-]

noun

1. Also called peag, seawan, sewan. cylindrical beads made from shells, pierced and strung, used by North American Indians as a medium of exchange, for ornaments, and for ceremonial and sometimes spiritual purposes, especially such beads when white but also including the more valuable black or dark-purple varieties.
2. Informal. money.

Origin of wampum

1630-1640; short for wampumpeag

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for wampum

Contemporary Examples

America with lakes of lucre, waves of wampum, a Superstorm Sandy of simoleons, a Hurricane Katrina of cash.
The Federal Government Has Violated My Right to Chainsaw
P. J. O’Rourke
April 26, 2014

Historical Examples

In the old days she used to do it in one plait wound around with wampum.
Indian Child Life
Charles A. Eastman

If you love your women and children, receive the belt of wampum I present you.
Daniel Boone
John S. C. Abbott

It was the wampum which recorded their words and gave their pledge of sincerity.
Wampum
Ashbel Woodward

Sh-me-ks-see, the Wolf; one of the Chiefs; his head curiously ornamented, and numerous strings of wampum on his neck.
Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in England, France, and Belgium; Vol. I (of 2)
George Catlin

But hides and furs were not the only articles which wampum purchased from the natives.
Wampum
Ashbel Woodward

In the early days the usual fee was ƒ6 in wampum, paid over to the church funds.
Jersey City and its Historic Sites
Harriet Phillips Eaton

Anagram

mum paw

Today’s quote

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

– Lao Tzu

On this day

13 September 1503 – Michelango commences his iconic sculpture, ‘David‘.

13 September 1922 – official highest temperature ever recorded: 57.8oC (138oF) at Azizya, Libya.

13 September 1940 – German Luftwaffe bombs Buckingham Palace, London, while King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) are in residence.