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Massasauga

2 stages from Ojibwe to English.

Today it means a small species of rattlesnake native to marshy and grassland habitats of eastern North America

Where does the word "massasauga" come from? It comes from Ojibwe Mississauga, adopted directly into English (1810s-1820s).

Mississauga→massasauga

Ojibwe · pre-1800s

"great river-mouth"

literally 'great river-mouth', originally naming a river and its Ojibwe inhabitants in Ontario

English · 1810s-1820s

"a small rattlesnake species found in marshy habitats"

applied by English-speaking naturalists to a small rattlesnake species common near that river's marshy delta

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