shoat, n., a young weaned pig. Possibly Flemish in origin, the use of the word shoat first appears in the English language in the mid- 15th century. Shoat has the secondary transferred meaning of an idle, worthless person.
It is this first definition of shoat, an immature pig, which is referenced in the following image and transcription excerpt:
fatham of peage, and divers of the indianes affirmed to uſ the Like yt hee
had none but Shoates under a yere owld bwt wee fownd yt it was not his ſow
bwt a nother Indian owened it James the Cinsman to mowwen, ſeemed
How does a shoat wandering the woods of Quoketaug figure into the murder of a young Pequot girl in 1671? Click here for the complete image and transcription of this document. Related documents can be found here and here.