Meanings
plural pemmicans · alternative pemican
- uncountableusuallyA food made from meat which has been dried and beaten into a paste, mixed with berries and rendered fat, and shaped into little patties.First known use 18th c.
I tried to eat some pemmican, but my mouth was too dry.
2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 2391 more example
"I can butcher a buffalo and make pemmican. I can pitch a tepee and pack it on a horse to move."
1950, Dorothy M. Johnson, Flame on the Frontier; in Indian Country, London: Corgi, 1961, page 27
Synonyms & antonyms
nounlean dried meat pounded fine and mixed with melted fat; used especially by North American Indians
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Algonquian*pemyi
- Creeᐱᒥᕀ“grease, oil, lard”
- Creeᐱᒦᐦᑳᐣ“pemmican”
- Englishpemmican
From Cree ᐱᒦᐦᑳᐣ (pimiihkaan, “pemmican”), from Cree ᐱᒥᕀ (pimiy, “grease, oil, lard”) + -ᐃᐦᑳᐣ (-ihkaan, “hand made”), from Proto-Algonquian *pemyi.
More words from Cree, Proto-Algonquian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish pemmikaani
- pemmikaanifood mixture
French pemmican
- pemmicanfood mixture
German Pemmikan
- Pemmikanfood mixture
Polish pemikan
- pemikanfood mixture
Russian пеммика́н
- пеммика́н (pemmikán)food mixture
Swedish pemmikan
- pemmikanfood mixture
Cite this entry
pemmican. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pemmican
“pemmican.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pemmican. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pemmican,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pemmican.
Source: pemmican on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.