wigwam

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Any more or less similar dwelling used by indigenous people in other parts of the world.

   Their houſes or wigwams, which they call carbets, are built as I have already deſcribed thoſe of the negroes; but inſtead of being covered with the leaves of the manicole-tree, they are covered with the leaves of rattans or jointed canes, here called tas, which grow in cluſters in all marſhy places: [...].

2. 2
   noun

   a Native American lodge frequently having an oval shape and covered with bark or hides

3. 3
   noun

   A dwelling having an arched framework overlaid with bark, hides, or mats, used by Native Americans in the northeastern United States.

4. 4
   verb

   To dry (flax or straw) by standing it outside in the shape of a wigwam.

Simplified etymology

Wigwam entered English in the early 17th century from Ojibwa wigwaum and Algonquian wikiwam, the latter meaning “their house.” It referred to the permanent, dome-shaped council building of eastern Indigenous peoples.

Borrowed from Abenaki wigwôm (“house”) or Penobscot wigwom (“house”), from Proto-Algonquian *wi·kiwa·ʔmi (“house”). Doublet of wickiup.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary