tamarack

The story

1. Proto-Algonquian · derived from*-a·xkw-“hardwood or deciduous tree”
2. Canadian French · derived fromtamarac
3. English todaytamarack

From Canadian French tamarac, believed to derive from an Algonquian word. In European languages there was contamination between tacamahac, from Nahuatl, and various Algonquian words containing the final Proto-Algonquian *-a·xkw- (“hardwood or deciduous tree”), including the sources of tamarack and hackmatack, as was already recognized by Chamberlain 1902. This makes the precise Algonquian words involved difficult to recover.