pemmican

American  

[pem-i-kuhn] / ˈpɛm ɪ kən /

Or pemican

noun

1. dried meat pounded into a powder and mixed with hot fat and dried fruits or berries, pressed into a loaf or into small cakes, originally prepared by North American Indians.

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pemmican British  

/ ˈpɛmɪkən /

noun

1. a small pressed cake of shredded dried meat, pounded into paste with fat and berries or dried fruits, used originally by American Indians and now chiefly for emergency rations

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Etymology

Origin of pemmican

1735–45; < Cree pimihka·n, derivative of pimihke·w he makes pemmican (mixing together the grease and other ingredients), he makes grease < Proto-Algonquian *pemihke·wa, equivalent to *pemy- grease + *-ehke· make

Example Sentences

Some tribes still make pemmican today and even market a commercial version.

From Salon • Nov. 9, 2023

It’s no surprise that Roald Amundsen, on his 1910-12 journey to the South Pole, packed snow knives, a sledge meter, snowshoes, mittens, skis and pemmican.

From New York Times • Dec. 26, 2019

It was designed to pound meat and berries to make pemmican.

From Washington Times • May 30, 2015

I read all the Swallows and Amazons books and hoarded the sailor speak – pemmican, hitch knots, port and starboard and wake – while having no desire whatsoever to run away to sea.

From The Guardian • May 30, 2013

Mr. Dawson was a busy man, for he superintended the buying of everything, from fur clothing to pemmican.

From First at the North Pole Two Boys in the Arctic Circle by Stratemeyer, Edward