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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

bishigenimo vai s/he is proud of h/ self

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

bitaganaandan vti accidentally hit it

Paired with: bitaganaam vta

bita' vta accidentally hit h/ (using something)

Paired with: bita'an vti

(reciprocal) bita'odiwag vai they accidentally hit each other (using something) (reflexive) bita'odizo vai s/he accidentally hits h/ self (using something)
bita'an vti accidentally hit it (using something)

Paired with: bita' vta

bita'odiwag vai they accidentally hit each other (using something)

bita'odizo vai s/he accidentally hits h/ self (using something)

bitam vta bite, eat h/ accidentally

Paired with: bitandan vti

bitandan vti bite, eat it accidentally

Paired with: bitam vta

bitaabikishin vai s/he hits a rock in the water or a reef

bitaaganaandizo vai s/he accidentally hit h/ self

bitaakobatoo s/he runs into a wall or tree

bitaakobwaameshin vai s/he bumps h/ thigh on something

bitaakodooskwaneshin vai s/he bumps h/ elbow on something

bitaakogaadeshin vai s/he bumps h/ leg on something

bitaakogidigweshin vai s/he bumps h/ knee on something

bitaakojaaneshin vai s/he bumps h/ nose on something

bitaakondibeshin vai s/he bumps h/ head

bitaakonikeshin vai s/he bumps h/ arm on something

bitaakoninjiishin vai s/he bumps h/ hand on something

bitaakoshin vai s/he bumps, hits against something accidentally (as something stick- or wood-like)

bitaakoshkaw vta bump into h/ accidentally; collide with h/

(detransitive) bitaakoshkaage vai s/he has a collision with someone, hits somebody with a car (reciprocal) bitaakoshkodaadiwag vai they collide, have a collision
bitaakoshkaage vai s/he has a collision with someone, hits somebody with a car

bitaakoshkodaadiwag vai they collide, have a collision

bitaakoshtigwaaneshin vai s/he bumps head against something accidentally

See also: bitaakotigwaaneshin vai [BL]

bitaakotigwaaneshin vai [BL] s/he bumps head against something accidentally

See also: bitaakoshtigwaaneshin vai

bitaakozideganaam vta accidentally hit h/ on the foot

bitaakozideshin vai s/he bumps h/ foot on something, stubs h/ toe

bitaakwa' vta hit h/ or it (animate) accidentally (using something)

See also: bitaakwa'wi vta [NI]

bitaakwa'e vai s/he accidentally shoots a tree

bitaakwa'wi vta [NI] hit h/ or it (animate) accidentally (using something)

See also: bitaakwa' vta

bitaakwiingweshin vai s/he bumps h/ face on something

bitikodan vti cut it accidentally (with a knife)

Paired with: bitikozh vta

bitikonidizo vai s/he cuts h/ self accidentally

bitikozh vta cut h/ accidentally (with a knife)

Paired with: bitikodan vti

(reflexive) bitikonidizo vai s/he cuts h/ self accidentally
bitizh vta cut h/ accidentally

Paired with: bitizhan vti

bitizhan vti cut it accidentally

Paired with: bitizh vta

bitizhwi vta [NI]

► bitizh vta

bizaan adv man
  1. quiet, quietly, still, at peace
  2. casually, freely, without concern; you can go ahead and do it

bizaan igo adv man at one's pleasure; go ahead and

bizaan-ayaa vai s/he is quiet, is still, is well-behaved, is easy-going

See also: bizaani-ayaa vai

bizaanabi vai s/he sits still, sits quietly

bizaanad vii it is still, is quiet

bizaanayaa vai s/he is quiet, is still, is well-behaved, is easy-going

bizaanaakwadabi vai s/he sits still, sits quietly

bizaani- pv lex quiet, quietly, still, at peace

bizaani-ayaa vai s/he is quiet, is still, is well-behaved, is easy-going

See also: bizaan-ayaa vai

bizaanigaabawi vai s/he stands quietly, stands still

bizaanishin vai s/he lies still

bizhigwaabe na a bachelor, an unmarried man

bizikan vti bump, accidentally run into or over it

Paired with: bizikaw vta

bizikaw vta bump, accidentally run into or over h/

Paired with: bizikan vti

bizhiki na
  1. a cow, [pl] cattle
  2. a bison, a buffalo

(verb of abundance) bizhikiikaa vii there are (a lot of) cattle, cows, bison (verb of making) bizhikiike vai s/he hunts or processes cattle, cows, bison (verb of being) bizhikiiwi vai s/he is a cow, is a bison (verb of possession) obizhikiimi vai s/he has a cow, has cattle
bizhikiwayaan na a cowhide

bizhikiwi-wiiyaas ni beef

bizhikiikaa vii there are (a lot of) cattle, cows, bison

bizhikiike vai s/he hunts or processes cattle, cows, bison

bizhikiins na a calf

bizhikiinsiwayaan na a calfhide

bizhikiiwi vai s/he is a cow, is a bison

bizhikiiwi-aadaakobijigan ni a cattle pen or corral

bizhikiiwigamig ni cattle barn

bizikoode vii it gets hit by something falling

Paired with: bizikoozo vai

bizikoozo vai s/he gets hit by something falling, gets run over

Paired with: bizikoode vii

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.