Etymology

potlatch

pot·latch
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Today it means: A ceremony amongst certain indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest in which gifts are bestowed upon guests and personal property is destroyed in a show of generosity and wealth. Full definition →

Chinook Jargon potlatch ← Nootka p̕ačiƛ
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The story

  1. Chinook Jargon · borrowed frompotlatch
  2. Nootka · derived fromp̕ačiƛ“to give a gift during a potlatch ceremony”
  3. Chinook Jargon · borrowed frompotlatch
  4. English todaypotlatch

The noun is borrowed from Chinook Jargon potlatch, pátlač (“to give; gift; gift-giving ceremony, potlatch”), from Nootka Jargon pa'chatle, pa'chēētle, pah-chilt (“to give, give me”), from Nootka p̕ačiƛ (“to give a gift during a potlatch ceremony”). Sense 1 of the verb (“to give; especially, to give a gift during a potlatch ceremony”) is borrowed from Chinook Jargon potlatch, pátlač (see above); sense 2 (“to carry out or take part in a potlatch ceremony”) is derived from the noun.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.