Word of the Week: March 19, 2001
A Tux in Wolf's Clothing

The word tuxedo is from the name of a country club in New York called "Tuxedo Park." The tuxedo was first introduced in 1889 at that country club. But how did the club come to be named "Tuxedo Park"?

Well, the Delaware, a Native American people, was divided into groups, and each group had a totem. One of those groups had the wolf as its totem. The Delaware's Algonquian word for wolf is p'tuksit. This word was used to name a village in New York, and later the country club used the name of the village in its name. By this time, the word had changed to tuxedo. You can still see most of the elements of the Delaware word.

Next Halloween, you might want to wear a tux and impersonate a wolf!

Words of the Week are written by Dr. Jacques A. Bailly.