Pemigewasset
/ˌpɛmɪˈɡɛwəsət/noun
A river and region in central New Hampshire, United States.
Did you know?Pemigewasset is an Indigenous Abenaki place-name whose spelling was reshaped by English colonists, preserving evidence of Native geography in modern New Hampshire.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Western Abenaki
bemijigwasek
“A reconstructed or recorded Abenaki form associated with a place of many birch trees”
17th Century
Abenaki
Pemijigwasek
“An Indigenous place-name referring to the river or surrounding landscape”
17th–18th Century
English colonial usage
Pemigewasset
“An English transcription of the Abenaki name”
18th Century
English
Pemigewasset River
“The river identified by the Indigenous name”
Modern English
English
Pemigewasset
“A New Hampshire river, region, and associated geographic name”
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