The story
- Abenaki · derived frommoskwas“muskrat, musquash”
- English todaymusquaw
From a Native American (probably Algonquian) word. Perhaps from Abenaki moskwas (“muskrat, musquash”). The use of a Native American word for one animal to designate a different animal was not uncommon; compare woodchuck (“groundhog”), from an Algonquian word for the fisher marten.
Words from the same roots
Abenakimoskwas all →
musquash
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.