Quahog Clam
/ˈkwɔː.hɔːɡ klæm/noun
A hard-shelled edible clam, especially the Atlantic quahog found along the North American coast.
Did you know?“Quahog” entered English from Narragansett, one of many Indigenous American words preserved in everyday English and especially prominent in coastal place-names and food traditions.
Etymological Timeline
Before European contact
Narragansett
poquauhock
“A hard-shelled clam or shellfish; often interpreted as “horse mussel”.”
17th Century
Colonial English
quahog
“An English borrowing used for the large edible clam of the Atlantic coast.”
17th Century
English
clam
“A shellfish; the word is related to an older sense involving something closed, clamped, or confined.”
18th–19th Century
American English
quahog clam
“A standard regional name for the hard clam, particularly in New England and the Mid-Atlantic.”
Modern English
English
quahog clam
“The edible hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, harvested commercially and recreationally along the Atlantic coast.”