DCHP-1 Online

wampum † [< Algonk.: Narraganset wampompeag strings of white (things)] Hist.

• 1 n. a bead or beads of shell, Venus mercenaria, later also of porcelain, important as a kind of currency among eastern Indians.

  See also: porcelain(e)  shell wampum  wampum bead  

• 2 n. a belt of wampum (def. 1), often worked in significant designs, used by Indians as a reminder of a treaty or agreement, etc.

  See also: wampum belt