ojibwe
/oʊˈdʒɪbweɪ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.04 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of or pertaining to this people, culture or language.
noun
A member of a native Algonquin people of central Canada.
name
The language spoken by the native Algonquin people of central Canada, one of a closely related group of languages and dialects of the Algonquian branch of the Algic language family.
Example Sentences
- "Then for 50 years its story lay dormant — although the Dream Dance remained a component of Ojibwe life both north and south of the Canada-U.S. border until its rediscovery by a Winnipeg historian and her colleagues."
- "The Anishinaabe people are American Indians who have historically been associated with the Great Lakes region of what is now called Canada and the United States. The Anishinaabe people of the Great Lakes include the Odawas (also known as the Ottawas), the Chippewas (also known as the Ojibwes), and the Potawatomis (also known as the Bodéwadmis)—three interrelated groups that are sometimes collectively referred to as the Three Fires Confederacy."
- "On a Tuesday in April 2017, Janet Macbeth composed an all-office email. “My story,” read the subject line in Nishnaabemwin, the Ojibwe language. “Hello everyone,” the email continued in Nishnaabemwin. “My name is Janet.”"
- "Endangered language communities would be thrilled with and proud of that kind of exposure for their language, like when Star Wars was dubbed into Navajo and Ojibwe."
Etymology
First attested in English around 1700 (and attested in early French as Outchibouec), from the Ojibwe name of an individual band of Ojibwe, of unclear origin. The most widely accepted theory connects it to Ojibwe ojibwaakide (“it shrivels, it puckers in the fire”), in reference to the puckering or tightening of moccasins at their seams or near fire. Alternatively, Helen Tanner and Edmund Danzinger connect it to the Ojibwe practice of writing on birch bark or making pictographs, respectively; compare ozhibii' (“write (someone's name) down”). Other, less credible theories: Other, less likely suggestions include: Henry Schoolcraft derived it from a word *bwe "pertaining to voice" ((compare bedowe (“have a soft voice”)), and like George Belcourt, believed it referred to a peculiarity of the tribe's (language's) pronunciation. Some other works connect it to the word for puckering the lips, which however is bajiishkidooneni (“she or he puckers the lips”), or assert that it refers to roasting captives until their flesh puckered, but this was not a common practice and is improbable as a self-designation.
Word Breakdown
- Root: -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /oʊˈdʒɪbweɪ/
- British English: /əˈdʒɪbweɪ/
Inflected Forms
more Ojibwe (comparative)
most Ojibwe (superlative)
Ojibwa (alternative, archaic)
Ojibway (alternative, archaic)
Ojibwes (plural)
Phrases
Wiktionary’s coverage of Ojibwe terms
Frequently Paired Words
Wiktionary’s coverage of Ojibwe terms