Dictionary

wigwam en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɪɡwɑːm/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. A dwelling having an arched framework overlaid with bark, hides, or mats, used by Native Americans in the northeastern United States.
2. (dated, possibly) 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: [...] 1796, J[ohn] G[abriel] Stedman, chapter XV, in Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the Wild Coast of South America; […], volume I, London: J[oseph] Johnson, […], and J. Edwards, […], →OCLC, page 388:
   • The Fuegian wigwam resembles, in size and dimensions, a haycock. It merely consists of a few broken branches stuck in the ground, and very imperfectly thatched on one side with a few tufts of grass and rushes. 1845 edition, Charles Darwin, Journal and Remarks (The Voyage of the Beagle)

Forms

Deriveds

wigwam burner · wigwam for a goose's bridle

Translations (22)

pot wigwam (Native American dwelling) · unm wikëwam (Native American dwelling) · es toldo (Native American dwelling) · oj miigiwaam (Native American dwelling) · abe wigwôm (Native American dwelling) · xlo ȣichiȣam (Native American dwelling) · aaq wigwom (Native American dwelling) · nl wigwam (Native American dwelling) · cmn 維格沃姆 /维格沃姆 (Native American dwelling) · de Wigwam (Native American dwelling) · ja ウィグワム (Native American dwelling) · bla ookóówa (Native American dwelling) · pl wigwam (Native American dwelling) · mic wikuom (Native American dwelling) · oj wiigiwaam (Native American dwelling) · sv wigwam (Native American dwelling) · chy mâhëö'o (Native American dwelling) · fi wigwam (Native American dwelling) · ca wigwam (Native American dwelling) · mia wiikiaami (Native American dwelling) · ru вигва́м (Native American dwelling) · fr wigwam (Native American dwelling)

wigwam en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɪɡwɑːm/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

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

Meanings

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

Forms

Relateds

hogan (traditional Native American dwellings) · wetu (traditional Native American dwellings) · igloo (traditional Native American dwellings) · teepee (traditional Native American dwellings) · tupik (traditional Native American dwellings) · wickiup (traditional Native American dwellings)