1 definition by SMART CANUCK
There is a theory that the word is derived from Connaught, a term said to be given by French Canadians to the Irish. The Oxford Companion To The English Language (defines the term as): Canuck 1820’s. Probably from the Iroquoian "CANUCHSA", someone in a "KANATA"(village)…but possibly from Hawaiian "KANAKA" (man), through a pidgin used in the fur trade (in which Pacific islanders were employed), and taken into French as "CANAQUE", perhaps being originally applied to French Canadian canoemen. A nickname for a Canadian…but in the U.S. Northeast pejoratively referring to French Canadians.
by SMART CANUCK May 19, 2004