noun
roanoke
ROH-uh-nohk
noun
1
Small white beads made from shells, once used as ornaments and as a form of currency among Native American peoples of colonial-era Virginia.
"Traders exchanged strings of roanoke for furs and tobacco."
"The beads called roanoke were valued both as jewellery and as money."
How to Use Roanoke
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA historical term for small polished shell beads used as decoration and as an early form of currency.
Memory tip
You'll mostly meet this word in history writing about colonial Virginia, not in everyday speech.
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Traders exchanged strings of _____ for furs and tobacco.
Etymology
Borrowed from the Powhatan word rawrenock, meaning "things rubbed smooth by hand" — describing how the shell beads were polished into shape.