Pikinini vs. Pickaninny

Pickaninnynoun

A black child.

Pickaninnyadjective

Little, small.

Pickaninnynoun

A small child; especially, a negro or mulatto infant. Now (2001) used primarily in the latter sense, and in that sense often considered derogatory.

Pickaninnynoun

(offensive) a Black child

Pickaninny

Pickaninny (also picaninny, piccaninny or pickinninie) is a word applied originally by people of the West Indies to their babies and more widely referring to small children, as in Melanesian Pidgin. It is a pidgin word form, derived from the Portuguese pequenino (, a diminutive version of the word pequeno, 'small', also used in Spanish, spelled pequeñito or pequeñín).