Adjacent Words

Wigwam definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WIGWAM, n. An Indian cabin or hut, so called in America. It is sometimes written weekwam.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

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

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Eastern Abenaki wìk?w?m house Date: 1628 a hut of the American Indians of the Great Lakes region and eastward having typically an arched framework of poles overlaid with bark, rush mats, or hides; also a rough hut

Britannica Concise

Amer. Indian dwelling, characteristic of the Algonquian-speaking nomadic tribes of what is now the NE U.S. It is constructed of saplings driven into the ground in a circle and tied together at the top, then covered with mats of woven rushes or sewn bark. See also igloo, longhouse, tepee.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a N. American Indian's hut or tent of skins, mats, or bark on poles. 2 a similar structure for children etc. Etymology: Ojibwa wigwaum, Algonquin wikiwam their house

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wigwam Wig"wam, n. [From the Algonquin or Massachusetts Indian word w[=e]k, ``his house,'' or ``dwelling place;'' with possessive and locative affixes, w[=e]-kou-om-ut, ``in his (or their) house,'' contracted by the English to weekwam, and wigwam.] An Indian cabin or hut, usually of a conical form, and made of a framework of poles covered with hides, bark, or mats; -- called also tepee. [Sometimes written also weekwam.] Very spacious was the wigwam, Made of deerskin dressed and whitened, With the gods of the Dacotahs Drawn and painted on its curtains. --Longfellow. Note: ``The wigwam, or Indian house, of a circular or oval shape, was made of bark or mats laid over a framework of branches of trees stuck in the ground in such a manner as to converge at the top, where was a central aperture for the escape of smoke from the fire beneath. The better sort had also a lining of mats. For entrance and egress, two low openings were left on opposite sides, one or the other of which was closed with bark or mats, according to the direction of the wind.'' --Palfrey.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(wigwams) A wigwam is the same as a tepee. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Hut (of an American Indian), cabin, tepee.