/pik"euh nin'ee/ , n. , pl. pickaninnies . Offensive.
a black child.
Also, picaninny, piccaninny .
[ 1645-55; prob. ult.
pequenino, dim. of pequeno small; as a word for "small child," pickaninny and its variants are widespread in English-based creoles of the New World and West Africa; cf. Jamaican E pickney, West African E pickin small child ]