Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (W.I./UK black) a young child.

1799		‘Buddy Quow’ in Lalla & D’Costa Lang. in Exile (1990) 111: Dah time Quasheba tell, / De Pickney he bin coming.
1869		H.G. Murray ‘Tom Kittle’s Wake’ in D’Costa & Lalla Voices in Exile (1989) 106: Maam, you eber hab pickney a morning da cry fe hot water [...] and you hab no money fe go buy sugar?
1873		C. Rampini Letters from Jamaica 71: The little black ‘picknies’ gambolled about.
1894		T. Banbury Jamaica Superstitions 42: Cry cry pickny nebba hab right.
1902		J. Speirs Proverbs of British Guiana 14: Cock grabble, hen grabble, picknie grabble, dem can’t sleep hungry.
1907		‘Toad & Donkey’ in W. Jekyll Jam. Song and Story 40: Now Toad have twenty picny.
1910		Anderson & Cundall Jamaica Proverbs and Sayings 11: One daddy fe twenty picknie, but twenty picknie no fe one daddy.
1916		J.G. Cruickshank Black Talk 14: You no see da fashion pickny a l’arn fo’ talk – when he papa a talk he a watch papa mout’?
1926		E. Walrond Tropic Death (1972) 25: Is yo’ drunk dat yo’ can’t fomembah me sistah-in-law what had a white picknee fo’ ’ar naygeh man?
1929		C. McKay Banjo 119: The grandaunt replied: ‘My pickney, I never say’t was you’.
1931		N. Van Patten ‘The Vocab. of the American Negro’ in AS VII:1 30: picknee. W. n. Pickaninny.
1933		(con. 1900s) C. McKay Banana Bottom 181: Oh mi pickney, mi pickney! What a blow!
1939		A. Durie One Jamaica Gal 39: You got no more pick-nies, Phoebe?
1942		L. Bennett ‘Tree-Mile Bus’ in Jam. Dialect Poems 109: Me ha’ six pickney.
1959		A. Salkey Quality of Violence (1978) 148: If you form fool, a whole heap-a-curse going fall down on you’ head and you’ pickney head, and on you’ pickney-pickney head.
1964		A. Bennett God the Stonebreaker 30: Slum pickneys are thieves and vagabonds.
1965		S. Selvon Housing Lark 45: Somebody spot Fritz in the park pushing pram! And today he have three picc’ns.
1966		(con. 1940s) L. Bennett ‘White Pickney’ in Jamaica Labrish 111: Since him pupa is wite-man / Fe call fe yuh pickney ‘wite’.
1978		‘Jamaica Child’ in Ashton et al. Our Lives (1982) 25: Me sarry fa dem picney ’im hit wid ’im strap.
1980		(con. 1950s) M. Thelwell Harder They Come 14: Poor thing [...] maybe she like me, calling her lost pickney.
1992		V. Headley Yardie 23: Weh your pickney, deh?
2004		A. Mansbach ‘Crown Heist’ in Brooklyn Noir 126: They’re babies. I man nah fear no likkle pickney.
2013		Jamaica Obs. On Line 18 Aug. 🌐 Is just true is poor people pickney why them no find the dutty boy yet.
2021		Central Cee ‘Tension’ 🎵 As a pickney, I didn't watch Disney channel, my telly didn’t have that many.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1938		Z.N. Hurston Tell My Horse (1995) 314: A pickney duppy is stronger than the duppy of a man.
1994		M. Montague Dread Culture 10: Cho! From money nuh involve, den a nuh nutten of importance. A pickney business den.