copperskin

English

Etymology

From copper +‎ skin, based on their skin tone.

Noun

copperskin (plural copperskins)

  1. (derogatory) A Native American; American Indian.
    • 1919, James, E. O., An introduction to anthropology‎[1], Macmillan, page 254:
      "language was not created until the several types of race had been fully fixed and determined. The Xanthocroid and the Melanocroid, the white Albino and the American copperskin existed with their features already fixed and enduring before the first community evolved the infantile language of mankind."
    • 1954, Moberg, Vilhelm, Unto a good land‎[2], Simon and Schuster, page 290:
      The Indians had returned and had been around the lake, but she tried to suppress her fear of the copperskins with this thought: If God protects me, I need not be afraid to walk alone through the forest.
    • 1975, Farrell, Cliff, The mighty land‎[3], Doubleday, page 51:
      Fill any copperskin full o' lead if n he gits too close. You hear me now? I cain't watch them brats an' mind them cattle if'n I'm goin' to keep this here wagon on the trail, now kin I?"
    • 1992, Stevens, Kate, Sisters in arms‎[4], Pan, page 10:
      ‘Well, she ain’t no pure copperskin, that she ain’t,’ said a third.
    • 2008, Turtledove, Harry, The United States of Atlantis‎[5], ROC, page 103:
      The English, damp their black hearts, landed a band of copperskin warriors from Terranova south of our town
  • copper-skinned
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.