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biidaagonagii vai s/he comes in snow

biidaagone vai s/he comes here through the snow

biidaagonekawe vai

biidaa'ago vai s/he drifts here on the waves

Paired with: biidaa'an vii

biidaa'ago vai s/he drifts here on the waves

Paired with: biidaa'an vii

biidaa'an vii it drifts here on the waves

Paired with: biidaa'ago vai

biidaa'ogo vai s/he drifts here on the waves

Paired with: biidaa'an vii See also: biidaa'ago vai

biidaajim vta come to tell about h/; bring the news about h/

Paired with: biidaadodan vti

biidaajimo vai s/he brings the news

(benefactive) biidaajimotaw vta bring the news to h/ (detransitive) biidaajimotaage vai s/he brings the news to people (derived noun) biidaajimowin ni news
biidaajimotaw vta bring the news to h/

biidaajimotaage vai s/he brings the news to people

biidaajimowin ni news

biidaanagidoone vai s/he comes talking

biidaanakwad vii clouds approach

biidaanakwagoode vii clouds in the sky come here

biidaandawe vai s/he climbs here

biidaanimad vii the wind comes, blows this way

biidaanimizi vai s/he comes in fear

biidaapi vai s/he comes laughing

biidaasamabi vai s/he sits facing this way

biidaasamigaabawi vai s/he stands facing this way

biidaasamisidoon vti2 lay it facing this way

Paired with: biidaasamishim vta

biidaasamishim vta lay h/ facing this way

Paired with: biidaasamisidoon vti2

biidaasamishin vai s/he lies down facing this way

biidaasamishkaa vai s/he paddles here; s/he comes in a boat

biidaasamose vai s/he walks here

biidaasige vai s/he comes with light, shines this way

biidaasin vii it is blown here (by the wind); sails, soars here

Paired with: biidaashi vai

biidaashi vai s/he is blown here (by the wind); sails, soars here

Paired with: biidaasin vii

biidaashkaa vii waves come here

biidaawadoon vti2 haul it here

Paired with: biidaawazh vta

(detransitive) biidaawajige vai s/he hauls things here
biidaawajige vai s/he hauls things here

biidaawanidiwag vai they travel here in a group

biidaawazh vta haul h/ here

Paired with: biidaawadoon vti2

(reciprocal) biidaawanidiwag vai they travel here in a group
biidaazhagaame vai s/he comes along shore

biidaazhagaamebatoo vai s/he runs here along the shore

biidaazakonebizo vai s/he drives here with a light

biidaazakonenjige vai s/he comes with a light

biidaazakwanenjige vai s/he comes with a light

biidikweshin vai s/he lies with head turned toward this way

biidikwewe vai he brings a wife home

biidin vta hand h/ over (here)

Paired with: biidinan vti

biidinamaw vta hand (it) over (here) to h/

biidinan vti hand it over (here)

Paired with: biidin vta

(benefactive) biidinamaw vta hand (it) over (here) to h/
biidowe vai h/ voice can be heard coming (some distance) = you can hear h/ voice coming (some distance)

biidoobii vai s/he brings water (or other liquid)

biidoode vai s/he crawls here

biidoom vta bring h/ on back

Paired with: biidoondan vti

biidoomaawaso vai s/he carries a baby here on h/ back

biidoomigo vai s/he rides here on horseback

biidoon vti2 bring it

Paired with: biizh vta

(benefactive) biidamaw vta bring something for h/
(detransitive) biidamaage vai s/he brings (it) for (people)
(benefactive) biidaw vta bring (it) for h/ (verb of undergoing) biijigaazo vai s/he or it (animate) is brought (by someone), "they" bring h/ or it (animate) (verb of undergoing) biijigaade vii it is brought (by someone), "they" bring it
biidoondan vti bring it on the back

Paired with: biidoom vta

biidweweba'idiwag vai they are heard coming together

biidwewebatoo vai s/he is heard running here

biidwewebide vii it is heard speeding. driving, flying here

Paired with: biidwewebizo vai

biidwewebizo vai s/he is heard speeding, driving, flying here

Paired with: biidwewebide vii

biidwewebiisaa vii [MN] rain is heard coming

See also: biidwewebiisaan vii

biidwewebiisaan vii rain is heard coming

See also: biidwewebiisaa vii [MN]

biidwewegamakwazhiwe vai s/he is heard paddling here

biidwewegamitoo vai s/he is heard coming in the water

biidwewejiwan vii it is heard flowing this way, here

biidwewekamigibatoo vai s/he is heard running here on the ground

biidwewekamigishin vai s/he is heard coming stepping on the ground

biidwewenaamo vai s/he is heard coming breathing hard

biidwewesagibatoo vai s/he is heard running here on the floor

biidwewesagishin vai s/he is heard stepping here on floor

biidwewesin vii it is heard ringing as it comes

Paired with: biidweweshin vai

biidweweshin vai s/he is heard walking here, h/ footsteps are heard as he comes

biidwewetoo vai s/he comes making vocal noise

biidweweyaadagaa vai s/he is heard swimming here

See also: bimweweyaadage vai [BL]

biidweweyaadagaako vai s/he is heard coming here on the ice

biidweweyaadagaazii vai s/he is heard wading here

biidweweyaadage vai [BL] s/he is heard swimming here

See also: biidweweyaadagaa vai

biidweweyaagone vai s/he is heard coming in the snow

biidweweyaagonebatoo vai s/he is heard running here in snow

biidweweyaagoneshin vai s/he is heard walking here in the snow

biidweweyaagoneshkige vai s/he is heard trudging here through the snow

biidweweyaakwaji vai s/he is heard coming getting hung up in the bushes

biidweweyaanagidoone vai s/he is heard talking as s/he comes

biidweweyaandawe vai s/he is heard climbing here

biidweweyaanimad vii the wind is heard coming

biidwewidam vai2 s/he comes calling, comes sounding; s/he comes speaking

biig na a spade suite card

biigijiisag ni decayed wood

See also: biigijiisag na

(verb of being) biigijiisagowan vii it is rotten wood, is punk
biigijiisag na a decayed tree, a rotten tree

See also: biigijiisag ni

biigijiisagad vii it (wood) is rotten, falls to pieces; it is punky wood

Paired with: biigijiisagizi vai

biigijiisagizi vai s/he (board, tree) is rotten, falls to pieces

Paired with: biigijiisagad vii

biigijiisagowan vii it is rotten wood, is punk

biigiskaadendam vai2 s/he is bored, is not interested, is listless, is depressed

biigiskaadendan vti not be interested in it, find it boring

Paired with: biigiskaadenim vta

biigiskaadendaagozi vai s/he is boring

Paired with: biigiskaadendaagwad vii

biigiskaadendaagwad vii it is boring

Paired with: biigiskaadendaagozi vai

biigiskaadenim vta find h/ boring; not be interested in h/ company

Paired with: biigiskaadendan vti

biigiskaazitaagozi vai

biigizawakwad vii it is hazy; there are scattered clouds

biigizawaabam vta see h/ indistinctly, have a blurry view of h/

Paired with: biigizawaabandan vti

biigizawaabandan vti see it indistinctly, see it as blurry

Paired with: biigizawaabam vta

biigizawaabi vai s/he has blurry vision

biigizawewidam vai2 s/he sounds unclear or fuzzy in the distance

biigizawinam vai2 s/he has blurry vision

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.