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Glite Dictionary
papoose

papoose

3 9.9
A Native American baby or young child
  • noun
  • /pəˈpuːs/
  • Archaic
translation icon : papoose
  • Mother turns the papoose onto his stomach, begins to pat his back.
  • papoose board
  • carry a papoose

Examples

  • All wrapped up like a little papoose.

    Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

  • After breakfast, Charlie mows the lawn, back and forth across the yard with Nicole strapped to his back like a papoose.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • how their "papoose" was doing

    Fiction book (2001)

  • I carry you around like-- like in a papoose.

    Mystery Team (2009)

  • Did they teach you how to make papooses?

    The Big Trail (1930)

  • Mother closes her eyes, pulls the papoose to her breast.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The mother gently carried her baby in a papoose while hiking through the forest.

  • In some Native American cultures, a papoose is used to keep infants close to their mothers.

  • The child was snug and warm in her papoose, sleeping peacefully as they walked.

Synonyms

pappoose
vspapoose
  • Archaic
9.9

A Native American baby or very young child who is often carried on a mother's back

refers generally to any Native American baby or young child

Compounds

papoose root
  • US
9.9

A tall plant with blue berries and a thick root used as medicine

How Young

newborn
142 1.0
infant
411 1.0
papoose
  • Archaic
3 9.9
child
∞ 1.0
adult
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

papoose singular
papooses plural

Etymology

The word papoose comes from an Algonquian word for 'child' used by Native people on the east coast of North America, and it was often the name for a baby carried on a cradleboard or a mother's back. That's why papoose today means a Native American baby or young child.