Standard Lemma guide

pemmican

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈpɛmɪkən/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A food made from meat which has been dried and beaten into a paste, mixed with berries and rendered fat, and shaped into little patties.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A speech or piece of writing that is very condensed, conveying a lot of thought or information in few words.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

lean dried meat pounded fine and mixed with melted fat; used especially by North American Indians

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pemican

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: meat

History

Etymology

From Cree ᐱᒦᐦᑳᐣ (pimiihkaan, “pemmican”), from Cree ᐱᒥᕀ (pimiy, “grease, oil, lard”) + -ᐃᐦᑳᐣ (-ihkaan, “hand made”), from Proto-Algonquian *pemyi.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Cheyenne: ame — food mixture
  • Cree: ᐱᒦᐦᑳᐣ (pimiihkaan) — food mixture
  • Finnish: pemmikaani — food mixture
  • French: pemmican — food mixture
  • Galician: pemmican — food mixture
  • German: Pemmikan — food mixture
  • Ido: pemikano — food mixture
  • Lakota: wásna — food mixture
  • Pawnee: tápaharus — food mixture
  • Polish: pemikan — food mixture
  • Russian: пеммика́н (pemmikán) — food mixture
  • Swedish: pemmikan — food mixture