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biskinige vai s/he folds things

biskinikeni vai s/he bends, flexes h/ arm

biskininjiini vai s/he bends h/ fingers or hand over

biskise vii it folds over (by itself)

biskitawageni vai s/he wiggles h/ ears

biskitenan vti fold it (sheet-like)

biskitenaagan ni a sap bucket of folded birch bark; [BL] a birch bark basket

(verb of making) biskitenaaganike vai s/he makes a biskitenaagan (a birch bark sap bucket); [BL] s/he makes a birch bark basket
biskitenaaganike vai s/he makes a biskitenaagan (a birch bark sap bucket); [BL] s/he makes a birch bark basket

biskitigweyaa vii the river has a sharp bend in it

biskizideni vai s/he bends, flexes h/ foot

biskiigad vii it (sheet-like) is bent, is olded

Paired with: biskiigizi vai

biskiigibidoon vti2 fold it (sheet-like) (with hands)

Paired with: biskiigibizh vta

biskiigibizh vta fold it (animate; sheet-like) (with hands)

Paired with: biskiigibidoon vti2

biskiigin vta fold it (animate; sheet-like) (with hand)

Paired with: biskiiginan vti

biskiiginan vti fold it (sheet-like)

Paired with: biskiigin vta

(detransitive) biskiiginige vai s/he folds things (as something sheet-like) (verb of undergoing) biskiiginigaade vii it is folded (by someone) [as something sheet-like]
biskiiginigaade vii it is folded (by someone) [as something sheet-like]

biskiiginige vai s/he folds things (as something sheet-like)

biskiigisin vii it is folded (sheet-like)

Paired with: biskiigishin vai

biskiigishin vai s/he is folded (as something sheet-like)

Paired with: biskiigisin vii

biskiigizi vai it (animate; sheet-like) is bent, is folded

Paired with: biskiigad vii

bisom vta offend, insult h/ (by speech)

bishagam vta peel h/ with the teeth

Paired with: bishagandan vti

bishaganagekobidoon vti2 peel bark off it with the hands

bishagandan vti peel it with the teeth

Paired with: bishagam vta

bishagaakobidoon vti peel the bark off it (by hand)

Paired with: bishagaakobizh vta

bishagaakobizh vta peel the bark off it (animate) (by hand)

Paired with: bishagaakobidoon vti

bishagaakokodan vti peel bark off it (a stick) with a blade; cut bark off it

Paired with: bishagaakokozh vta

bishagaakokozh vta cut bark off it (animate; tree); peel bark off it (animate; tree) with a blade

Paired with: bishagaakokodan vti

bishagaakwa' vta peel or scrape bark off it (animate) (using something)

Paired with: bishagaakwa'an vti

bishagaakwa'an vti peel or scrape bark off it (using something)

Paired with: bishagaakwa' vta

(detransitive) bishagaakwa'ige vai s/he peels timber (using something) (derived noun) bishagaakwa'igan ni a log peeler
bishagaakwa'igan ni a log peeler

bishagaakwa'ige vai s/he peels timber (using something)

bishagaakwa'wi vta [NI]

► bishagaakwa' vta

bishagaakwam vta chew bark off h/ (a tree)

(detransitive) bishagaakwanjige vai s/he chews bark off trees
bishagaakwanjige vai s/he chews bark off trees

bishagaaso vai s/he peels from being sunburned

bishagibide vii it peels off in a machine

Paired with: bishagibizo vai

bishagibidoon vti2 peel it (with hands)

Paired with: bishagibizh vta

(detransitive) bishagibijige vai s/he peels things (with hands)
bishagibijige vai s/he peels things (with hands)

bishagibizh vta peel h/ (with hands)

Paired with: bishagibizh vta

bishagibizo vai it (animate) peels off in a machine

Paired with: bishagibide vii

bishagidooskwaneshin vai s/he skins h/ elbow on something

bishagigaadeshin vai s/he falls and scrapes h/ leg

bishagigidigweshin vai s/he skins h/ knee

bishagikodan vti peel it (with a knife)

Paired with: bishagikozh vta

bishagikojige vai s/he peels things (with a knife)

bishagikozh vta peel h/ (with a knife, pare h/

Paired with: bishagikodan vti

bishaginikeshin vai s/he falls and skins h/ arm

bishagipinii vai s/he peels potatoes

bishagise vii it peels, peels off

bishagisidoon vti2 scrape, skin it on something

Paired with: bishagishim vta

bishagishim vta scrape, skin h/ on something

Paired with: bishagisidoon vti2

bishagishkaa vii it peels off

Paired with: bishagishkaa vai

bishagishkaa vai s/he peels, peels off

Paired with: bishagishkaa vii

bishagiwebishkan vti peel it (by foot or body action)

bishagizideshin vai s/he skins h/ foot on something

bishagiingweshin vai s/he falls and skins h/ face

bishagiishkate vii it is dark indoors

bishagiishkaa vii it is dark, gets dark (as night)

bishagiishkaande vii it is dark colored

Paired with: bishagiishkaanzo vai

bishagiishkaanzo vai s/he is dark colored

Paired with: bishagiishkaande vii

bisha'igobii vai s/he peels basswood bark

bishigendam vai2

bishigobide vii it slips, slips off

Paired with: bishigobizo vai

bishigobidoon vti2 miss grabbing or catching it

Paired with: bishigobizh vta

bishigobizh vta miss grabbing or catching h/

Paired with: bishigobidoon vti2

bishigobizo vai s/he drives off the road, derails; s/he slips, slips off

Paired with: bishigobide vii

bishigon vta miss grabbing or catching h/; drop or let h/ go from your grasp

Paired with: bishigonan vti

bishigonan vti miss grabbing or catching it; drop or let it go from your grasp

Paired with: bishigon vta

bishigosidoon vti2 miss putting it in the right place

Paired with: bishigoshim vta

bishigoshim vta miss putting h/ in the right place

Paired with: bishigosidoon vti2

bishigoshkan vti miss it with foot or body

Paired with: bishigoshkaw vta

bishigoshkaw vta miss h/ with foot or body

Paired with: bishigoshkan vti

bishigowebinan vti throw something at it and miss

bishigozhaazo vai s/he pees and misses

bishigwabi vai s/he sits and misses the chair

bishigwaganaandan vti hit at and miss it

bishigwa' vta hit h/ in wrong place (using something); miss h/ (using something)

Paired with: bishigwa'an vti

bishigwa'an vti hit it in wrong place (using something); miss it (using something)

Paired with: bishigwa' vta

bishigwam vta drop h/ from the mouth; try biting h/ and miss

Paired with: bishigwandan vti

bishigwandan vti drop it from the mouth; try biting it and miss

bishigwapidoon vti2 miss trying to tie it

Paired with: bishigwapizh vta

(verb of undergoing) bishigwapijigaade vii it is missed in being tied (by someone), "they" miss tying it (verb of undergoing) bishigwapijigaazo vai s/he is missed in being tied (by someone), "they" miss tying h/
bishigwapijigaade vii it is missed in being tied (by someone), "they" miss tying it

bishigwapijigaazo vai s/he is missed in being tied (by someone), "they" miss tying h/

bishigwapizh vta miss in trying to tie h/

Paired with: bishigwapidoon vti2

bishigwaajimaagozi vai s/he smells nasty

bishigwaakwii vai s/he misses h/ grip (on something stick-like such as a railing, bar, or handle)

bishigwaandawe vai s/he misses h/ footing climbing

bishkonan vti shoot at it and miss

Paired with: bishkonaw vta

bishkonaw vta shoot and miss h/

Paired with: bishkonan vti See also: bashkonaw vta [BL]

(detransitive) bishkonaage vai s/he shoots and misses
bishkonaage vai s/he shoots and misses

bishkonaagozi vai s/he is lost from sight, dissappears

bishkongwashi vai s/he dozes

bishkotan vti miss hearing it, miss understanding what is heard

Paired with: bishkotaw vta

bishkotaw vta miss hearing h/, miss understanding what s/he says

Paired with: bishkotan vti

bishkotaagozi vai h/ sound fades away, gets fainter

Paired with: bishkotaagwad vii

bishkotaagwad vii its sound fades away, gets fainter

Paired with: bishkotaagozi vai

bishkwaabam vta not see h/ any more, have him disappear from view

Paired with: bishkwaabandan vti

bishkwaabandan vti not see it any more, have it disappear from view

Paired with: bishkwaabam vta

bitaganaam vta accidentally hit h/

Paired with: bitaganaandan vti

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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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.