Search the dictionary Advanced Search

How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

miikanaagoneshkige vai [BL]

miikanaake vai s/he makes a road or trail; s/he breaks the trail

miikanaakewidaabaan na a road construction truck

miikanaakewinini na a road worker

miikanaawan vii it is a road, is a trail

miikawaadad vii it is handsome, is beautiful

Paired with: miikawaadizi vai

miikawaadendan vti think it beautiful

Paired with: miikawaadenim vta

miikawaadendaagozi vai s/he is beautiful, is thought beautiful

Paired with: miikawaadendaagwad vii

miikawaadendaagwad vii it is beautiful, is thought beautiful

Paired with: miikawaadendaagozi vai

miikawaadenim vta think h/ beautiful

Paired with: miikawaadendan vti

miikawaadenimo vai s/he thinks h /self beautiful

miikawaadizi vai s/he is handsome, is beautiful; [BL] s/he is smart, clever, knows what s/he is doing

Paired with: miikawaadad vii

(verb of pretending) miikawaadiziikaazo vai [BL] s/he acts smart
miikawaadiziikaazo vai [BL] s/he acts smart

miikawinaagozi vai [BL] s/he is good-looking, is nice-looking

miikindizi vai s/he teases, provokes, irritates somebody

miikinji' vta provoke, tease, harass, bully h/

(reciprocal) miikinji'idiwag vai they provoke, tease, harass, bully each other (detransitive) miikinji'iwe vai s/he provokes, teases, harasses, bullies people
miikinji'idiwag vai they provoke, tease, harass, bully each other

miikinji'iwe vai s/he provokes, teases, harasses, bullies people

miikinzitaagozi vai s/he teases, provokes, irritates somebody vebally

miikinzom vta tease, provoke, irritate h/ by speech

miikinzondiwag vai they tease, provoke, irritate each other

miikogi vai s/he, it (animate) grows well

Paired with: miikogin vii

miikogin vii it grows well

Paired with: miikogi vai

miikonan vti shoot it right on target, shoot and hit it

Paired with: miikonaw vta

(detransitive) miikonige vai s/he shoots something right on target, shoots and hits something (verb of undergoing) miikonigaade vii it is shot right on target (by someone), "someone" shoots it right on target (verb of undergoing) miikonigaazo vai s/he is shot right on target (by someone), "they" shoot h/ right on target
miikonaw vta shoot h/ right on target, shoot and hit h/

Paired with: miikonan vti

(detransitive) miikonaage vai s/he shoots someone (game) right on target, shoots and hits someone; s/he is a crack shot
miikonaage vai s/he shoots someone (game) right on target, shoots and hits someone; s/he is a crack shot

miikonigaade vii it is shot right on target (by someone), "someone" shoots it right on target

miikonigaazo vai s/he is shot right on target (by someone), "they" shoot h/ right on target

miikonige vai s/he shoots something right on target, shoots and hits something

miikoshkaw vta bump in to h/

miikoshkoodoon vti2 shoot and hit it right on target accidentally

Paired with: miikoshkoozh vta

miikoshkoozh vta shoot and hit h/ right on target accidentally

Paired with: miikoshkoodoon vti2

miikoshkoozo vai s/he is shot, hit right on by a projectile (arrow, bullet)

miikwa' vta hit h/ dead center with something

Paired with: miikwa'an vti

miikwa'an vti hit it dead center with something

Paired with: miikwa' vta

(verb of undergoing) miikwa'igaade vii it is hit dead center (by someone) (verb of undergoing) miikwa'igaazo vai s/he, it (animate) is hit dead center (by someone) (detransitive) miikwa'ige vai s/he hits something dead center (using something)
miikwa'igaade vii it is hit dead center (by someone)

miikwa'igaazo vai s/he, it (animate) is hit dead center (by someone)

miikwa'ige vai s/he hits something dead center (using something)

miikwa'wi vta [NI] hit it (animate) dead center

► miikwa' vta

miikwenim vta have confidence in h/, is confident of h/

miikwenimo vai s/he has confidence, is confident; s/he is confident

miin ni a blueberry

miinaganzh ni [BL] a blueberry plant

See also: miinagaawanzh na

miinagaawanzh na a blueberry plant

[
Vaccinium angustifolium
]

See also: miinaganzh ni [BL]

miinan ni blueberries (plural)

miinange adv deg especially, particularly, above all, of course; definitely

miinawaa adv conj also; and; again

miinaande vii it is purple

Paired with: miinaanzo vai

miinaanzo vai s/he, it (animate) is purple

Paired with: miinaande vii

miinens na a hawthorn fruit

miinensaganzh na a hawthorn bush

miinensagaawanzh na a hawthorn tree

[
Crataegus spp.
]

miini-bakwezhigan na blueberry bannock

miini-baashkiminasigan ni blueberry sauce

miini-baashkiminasigani-biitoosijigani-bakwezhigan na a blueberry pie

miini-giizis na July; August

miinidiwag vai they give (something) to each other; they have a give-away

miinidiwin ni a give-away

miinigoowizi vai s/he receives a gift, is given a gift

miinikaa vii there are (many) blueberries

miinikaan ni a seed

miinikewi-giizis na [BL] July

miinobani'o vai [BL] s/he suddenly corrects h/ balance, moves quickly to correct h/ position

miinobidoon vti2 pull and straighten it

Paired with: miinobizh vta

miinobizh vta pull and straighten it (animate)

Paired with: miinobidoon vti2

miinon vta put h/ right

Paired with: miinonan vti

miinonan vti straighten it; put or set it upright, put or set it straight up

Paired with: miinon vta

miinosidoon vti2 straighten it; set it straight

Paired with: miinoshim vta

miinoshim vta straighten h/; set h/ straight

Paired with: miinosidoon vti2

miinoshkan vti straighten it (with foot or body)

Paired with: miinoshkaw vta

miinoshkaw vta straighten h/ (with foot or body)

Paired with: miinoshkan vti

miinooj adv man do something against one's will or better judgement; nevertheless; reluctantly; notwithstanding

miish adv pred and then; it is thus that

miishanowe vai s/he has a hairy cheek or hairy cheeks

miishaa vii it is hairy, is fuzzy

Paired with: miishizi vai

miishaabiwinaan ni an eyelash hair

miishaakigan vai [S] he has a hairy chest

See also: miishaakigane vai [N]

miishaakigane vai [N] he has a hairy chest

See also: miishaakigan vai [S]

miishaanowe vai s/he (an animal) has a furry tail

miishaawigane vai [N] s/he has a hairy back

miishidaamikan vai [S] he has a beard

See also: miishidaamikane vai [N]

miishidaamikane vai [N] he has a beard

See also: miishidaamikan vai [S]

miishidenigome vai s/he has hairy nostrils

miishidoon vai [S] s/he has whiskers at h/ mouth, has a moustache

See also: miishidoone vai [N]

miishidoonaan ni [BL] a moutache hair

miishidoone vai [N] s/he has whiskers at h/ mouth, has a moustache

See also: miishidoon vai [S]

miishigaade vai s/he has hairy legs

miishigidigwe vai s/he has a hairy knee or hairy knees

miishijiimin na a peach

miishijiimini-baashkiminasigan ni peach sauce or jam

miishinike vai s/he has hairy arms

miishitawage vai s/he has hairy ears

miishiwinaan ni velvet on an antler

miishiwine vai it (animate) has velvet on its antlers

miishizi vai s/he is hairy, is fuzzy

Paired with: miishaa vii

miishizide vai s/he has hairy feet

miishiigad vii it (sheet-like) is fuzzy

Paired with: miishiigizi vai

miishiigin ni velvet (fabric)

miishiiginoons na [BL] velveteen

miishiigizi vai it (animate- sheet-like) is fuzzy

Paired with: miishiigad 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.

  • Audio recordings
  • Images
  • Video
  • Documents

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.