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Wampum

2 stages from Massachusett to English.

Today it means traditional shell beads used by Native Americans as currency, ornamentation, or ceremony
1
Stage 1 of 2
wampumpeag
Massachusett · pre-1600s
"strings of shell beads"
literally "white strings [of shell beads]"
2
Stage 2 of 2
wampum
English · 1600s
"shell beads used as currency or ornament"
shortened by English colonists in New England
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