pickaninny

English

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pickaninny

/ˈpɪkənɪni/ UK

Where it comes from

Probably from a Portuguese pidgin, from Portuguese pequenino (“boy, child”), noun use of pequenino (“tiny”), from pequeno (“small”). In South African uses probably partly after Afrikaans pikenien.

noun pickaninnies · piccaninny · picaninny · picinniny · pikinini · pickaninnie

colloquial, ethnic, offensive, slur A black child. Governor,— that will make a good settler,— that's my Pickaninny!

adjective piccaninny · picaninny · picinniny · pikinini · pickaninnie · pickininnie

archaic, not comparable Little, small. For quotations using this term, see Citations:pickaninny.

Translations

Every language

noun black child

Ελληνικά	αραπάκι arapáki

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Cite this

MLA

"pickaninny." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pickaninny. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

pickaninny. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pickaninny

Chicago

"pickaninny." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pickaninny.

BibTeX

@misc{pickaninny_2026,
  title = {pickaninny},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pickaninny},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}