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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

adhere
vi
adhere
agoke vii it sticks on, adheres

Paired with: agoke vai

bazagoke vii it sticks, adheres

Paired with: bazagoke vai

adhesive tape
n
adhesive tape
agokiwasiganeyaab ni [BL] adhesive tape

agokiwasigan ni something that makes things stick: glue, paste, adhesive tape

administrative office
n
administrative office
ogimaawigamig ni an administrative office; a head office

admired
adj
admired
minwaabamewizi vai s/he is admired, is respected

adolescent
n
adolescent
oshkiniigii vai s/he is young, is an adolescent

adolescent boy
oshkinawe na a young man, an adolescent boy

oshkinawewi vai he is a young man, an adolescent boy

oshki-inini na a young man, an adolescent boy

oshki-ininiiwi vai he is a young man, an adolescent boy

adolescent girl
oshkiniigikwe na a young woman, an adolescent girl

oshkiniigikwewi vai she is a young woman, an adolescent girl

adopt
vt
adopt
bami' vta take care of, look after, support, provide for, adopt h/

Paired with: bamitoon vti2

waangoom vta adopt h/

adopted one
bami'aagan na a supported one, an adopted one; a pet

adult
n
adult
gichi-aya'aa na an adult, an elder

gichi-aya'aawi vai s/he is of a mature age, is an adult, is an elder

advance
n
in advance
giizhaa adv tmp beforehand; in advance; ahead of time

adversary
n
think of someone as adversary
miigaadenim vta think of h/ as an enemy or adversary; feel like fighting h/

miigaadenindiwag vai they think of each other as enemies or adversaries; they feel like fighting each other

afraid
adj
afraid
gotaaji vai s/he is afraid, is fearful

zegizi vai s/he is afraid, frightened, scared

afraid of
goshi vta be afraid of, fear h/

Paired with: gotan vti

gotan vti be afraid of, fear it

Paired with: goshi vta

gosidiwag vai they are afraid of each other

The Ojibwe People's Dictionary is developed and maintained by:
Nora Livesay, Editor
John D. Nichols, Founder and Linguistic Editor

with support and collaboration from the University of Minnesota's Department of American Indian Studies and University Libraries.

Additional Resources

Many of the words in the Ojibwe People's Dictionary have related resources. Click through to the full dictionary entry to hear audio recordings, see images, read documents and watch videos. Here's a key to resource icons.

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Speakers & Regions Key

Individual speakers and speakers from different regions use different words when speaking. Each audio recording is marked with the initials of the Ojibwe speaker. Click on a speaker's initials to go to the speaker's bio page. If an Ojibwe word is particular to a certain region, it will be marked with a region code. Click on the region code to go to the Regions page.