chunkey

English

Alternative forms

• chenco
• chungke
• chunky
• tchungke
• tchungkee, tchung-kee

Etymology

From the undocumented language(s) (potentially Sioux-Catawban) of the Shoccoree–Eno–Adshusheer peoples of north-central North Carolina (roughly corresponding to the Research Triangle and the Piedmont Triad regions). The earliest attestation is as “chenco” in John Lawson’s 1709 travelogue.

Noun

chunkey (countable and uncountable, plural chunkies)

1. A sport or game played by the Cherokee and other Native Americans in the Carolinas, which involved rolling stone disks across the ground and throwing spears at them in an attempt to land the spear as close to the stopped stone as possible.