α. 1700s (1800s in dictionaries) huskanoy, 1700s– huskanaw, 1800s– huskenaw.
β. 1700s husquenaugh, 1700s 1900s– husquenaw.
huskanawn.
/ˈhʌskənɔː/, U.S. /ˈhəskəˌnɔ/, /ˈhəskəˌnɑ/ Now historical.
Among certain North American Indian peoples of Virginia and North Carolina: an initiation period or ritual in which adolescents are prepared for adulthood by means of solitary confinement, fasting, and the use of narcotics, usually undergone by boys, but also in some cases by girls.
ΚΠ
1705 R. Beverley Hist. Virginia iii. viii. 41 The Appamattucks, formerly a great Nation, tho now an inconsiderable people, made an Huskanaw in the year 1690.
1890 J. G. Frazer Golden Bough II. iv. 348 Among the Indians of Virginia, an initiatory ceremony, called Huskanaw, took place every sixteen or twenty years.
1981 J. Axtell Indian Peoples xix. 46 In tide-water Virginia and Carolina the huskanaw was used to select candidates for the offices of priest, sachem, and cockarouse.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
huskanawv.
/ˈhʌskənɔː/, U.S. /ˈhəskəˌnɔ/, /ˈhəskəˌnɑ/ Now historical.
transitive. To subject (a person) to a huskanaw, an initiation ritual practised by certain North American Indian peoples of Virginia and North Carolina. See huskanaw n.
ΚΠ
1705 R. Beverley Hist. Virginia iii. viii. 39 The choicest and briskest young men..are chosen out by the Rulers to be Huskanawed.
1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 233 It is always at Christmas that they husquenaugh their Youth, which is by bringing them into this House, and keeping them dark all the time, where they more than half-starve them.
1788 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 444 So much out of his element that he has the air of one huskanoyed.
1981 J. Axtell Indian Peoples xx. 50 Only in Carolina were girls huskanawed along with the boys.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1705v.1705