Dictionary

Gitche Gumee en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• /ˌɡɪ.t͡ʃɪ ˈɡuː.mi/ spelling pronunciation, hyperforeign, common
• /ˌɡɪ.t͡ʃi ˈɡʌ.mi/
• gĭ′-chĭ go͞o′-mē spelling pronunciation, hyperforeign, common
• gĭ′-chĭ gŭ′-mē
• /ˌɡɪ.t͡ʃɪ ˈɡʌ.mi/
• /ˌɡɪ.t͡ʃi ˈɡuː.mi/ spelling pronunciation, hyperforeign, common
• gĭ′-chē go͞o′-mē spelling pronunciation, hyperforeign, common
• gĭ′-chē gŭ′-mē

Etymology

Borrowed from Ojibwe gichigami (“big lake; a Great Lake; Lake Superior”).

Meanings

1. (colloquial) Lake Superior.
   • Perhaps the most well known is Gitche Gumee. Long before settlers arrived in Keweenaw County, the Ojibwa gave the great lake this name, translating to “big water.” 2014, Jennifer Billock, Keweenaw County, Arcadia Publishing, →ISBN, page 69:
   • The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down / Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee. 1976, Gordon Lightfoot, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald:
   • The Race to Lake Gitche Gumee Begins 2012, Bradley Carlson, Wisconsin 1 Step at a Time: Taking Steps to Trample Muscular Dystrophy, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 111:
   • But this presents no difficulty to “Gitche Gumee,” for the German weather forecasts could easily enable the force to choose a period of calm or of favourable winds. 1909, James Anson Farrer, Invasion and Conscription: Some Letters from a Mere Civilian to a Famous General:
   • 1974-05-27, Sports Illustrated, https://www.si.com/vault/1974/05/27/614719/off-the-shores-of-gitche-gumee OFF THE SHORES OF GITCHE GUMEE (article title)

Forms