chinquapin

Meanings

1. Any of certain species of tree in the chestnut genus Castanea:
2. Allegheny chinkapin (Castanea pumila)
3. Ozark chinkapin (Castanea ozarkensis)
4. Chinese chinkapin (Castanea henryi)
5. Any in the genus Castanopsis of trees.
6. Any in the genus Chrysolepis of trees and shrubs.
7. Quercus muehlenbergii, a tree whose leaves resemble those of chestnut-genus chinquapins.
8. A water chinquapin, an aquatic plant of species Nelumbo lutea, American lotus.
9. A redear sunfish, a freshwater fish of the southeastern US (Lepomis microlophus).

Etymology

Like its cognate / alternative form chinkapin, chinquapin is an alteration of chechinquamin / chincomen (the form found in early records), from an Algonquian language (sometimes said specifically to be from Powhatan). The final element is *mini (“berry, fruit”). Hewitt suggested that the first element was a word meaning "large, great" cognate to xinkw- (“big, large, great”).