Meaning of billiken | Babel Free
/ˈbɪ.lɪ.kən/Definitions
A rotund charm doll originally patented in 1908 by American art teacher and illustrator, Florence Pretz of Kansas City, Missouri, and representing "the God of Things as They Ought to Be".
Examples
“Other experiments have been made with the billiken but none so successful as the milliken. One is the rarely seen "billiken in a barrel," a male billiken with movable genitals. Carvers occasionally have attempted to portray billikens in different positions or in action, for example, "Spike" Milligrock's billiken bowing in a Japanese-like posture, which had little success.”
“Happy Jack made his first ivory billiken in 1909, the commercial ones were at the height of their success — having taken the country by storm — but by 1912 they had plunged to oblivion.”
“Florence Pretz of Kansas City patented the billiken in 1908.”
CEFR level
B2
Upper Intermediate
This word is part of the CEFR B2 vocabulary — upper intermediate level.
This word is part of the CEFR B2 vocabulary — upper intermediate level.