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onibiimi vai s/he has water

onigam ni a portage

onik nid h/ arm

onik ni [RL] rod and piston

onikodan vti cut it to shape

Paired with: onikozh vta

onikozh vta cut h/ to shape

Paired with: onikodan vti

onin vta
  1. form, shape, assemble, order it (animate); get it (animate) ready (by hand)
  2. deal it (animate; playing cards)

Paired with: oninan vti

oninamaw vta form, shape, assemble (it) for h/, put (it) in order for h/

oninamaa vai s/he looks for a place to sleep; s/he gets ready for bed

oninan vti form, shape, assemble it; get it ready (by hand); put it in order, put it away

Paired with: onin vta

(benefactive) oninamaw vta form, shape, assemble (it) for h/, put (it) in order for h/ (detransitive) oninige vai
  1. s/he forms, shapes, assembles, orders things
  2. s/he shuffles and deals cards
 (verb of undergoing) oninigaade vii it is formed, shaped, assembled, put in order (by someone) (verb of undergoing) oninigaazo vai it (animate) is formed, shaped, assembled, put in order (by someone)
oninasabii vai s/he prepares a net for setting

oning nid h/ armpit; its wing

oningwanan nad h/ son-in-law

oningwani vai s/he has a son-in-law

oningwanisan nad h/ nephew (cross-nephew: male's sister's son or female's brother's son)

oningwanisi vai s/he has a daughter-in-law

oningwiigan nid its wing

oninigaade vii it is formed, shaped, assembled, put in order (by someone)

oninigaazo vai it (animate) is formed, shaped, assembled, put in order (by someone)

oninige vai
  1. s/he forms, shapes, assembles, orders things
  2. s/he shuffles and deals cards

oninj nid h/ hand, h/ finger

oninjigan nid h/ fin (especially a pectoral fin of a fish); h/ (crayfish) pincer

oninjigani vai s/he (a fish) has fins; s/he (a crayfish) has pincers

oninjii-baashkizigan ni a handgun

onishiwan nad his testicle(s)

onishkaa vai s/he gets up (from a prone position)

onishkaabatoo vai s/he jumps up out of bed

onizh vta cut it (animate) out (to make it), form it (animate) by cutting

Paired with: onizhan vti See also: onizhwi vta [NI]

onizhamaw vta cut (it) out, cut (it) to shape for h/

onizhan vti cut it out (to make t), form it by cutting

Paired with: onizh vta ; onizhwi vta [NI]

(benefactive) onizhamaw vta cut (it) out, cut (it) to shape for h/ (detransitive) onizhige vai s/he cuts things out, cuts things to shape (verb of undergoing) onizhigaade vii it is cut out, cut to shape (by someone), "they" cut it out, cut it so shape (verb of undergoing) onizhigaazo vai it (animate) is cut out, cut to shape (by someone), "they" cut it (animate) out, cut it (animate) to shape
onizhigaade vii it is cut out, cut to shape (by someone), "they" cut it out, cut it so shape

onizhigaazo vai it (animate) is cut out, cut to shape (by someone), "they" cut it (animate) out, cut it (animate) to shape

onizhige vai s/he cuts things out, cuts things to shape

onizhishaanikwe vai s/he has nice hair

onizhishendan vti think it is nice or looks nice

Paired with: onizhishenim vta

onizhishenim vta think h/ or it (animate) is nice or looks nice

Paired with: onizhishendan vti

onizhishenimo vai s/he thinks h/self to be nice or look nice

onizhishi vai s/he is nice, pretty, beautiful, handsome

Paired with: onizhishin vii

onizhishi' vta make it (animate) nice, pretty, beautiful

Paired with: onizhishitoon vti2

onizhishin vii it is nice, pretty

Paired with: onizhishi vai

onizhishinaagwad vii it looks nice, looks beautiful

onizhishitoon vti2 make it nice, pretty, beautiful

Paired with: onizhishi' vta

onizhishiigad vii it (sheet-like) is nice, is pretty

Paired with: onizhishiigizi vai

onizhishiigizi vai it (animate; sheet-like) is nice, is pretty

Paired with: onizhishiigad vii

onizhwi vta [NI] cut it (animate) out (to make it), form it (animate) by cutting

Paired with: onizhan vti See also: onizh vta

oniigi'igoon nad h/ parent

oniijaanisan nad h/ child

oniijaanisensi vai s/he has a small child or small children, has a small young one or small young

oniijaanisi vai s/he has a child or children, has a young one or young

oniijaanisim vta have h/ as a child

oniijaaniw na a doe

oniishkwan nad h/ gland (lymph node)

onji- pv rel because; for a certain reason; from a certain place

onjiba'idiwag vai they run from a certain place together

onjiba'igo vai s/he rides from a certain place, drives from a certain place (drawn by horse or dog)

onjibatoo vai s/he runs from a certain place

(applicative) onjibatwaadan vti run from a certain place with it (applicative) onjibatwaazh vta run from a certain place with h/
onjibatwaadan vti run from a certain place with it

onjibatwaazh vta run from a certain place with h/

onjibaa vai s/he comes from a certain place

onjibide vii it drives, speeds, falls from a certain place

Paired with: onjibizo vai

onjibidoon vti2 pull it from a certain place, pull a piece of it from something

Paired with: onjibizh vta

onjibizh vta pull h/ from a certain place

Paired with: onjibidoon vti2

onjibizo vai s/he drives, speeds, falls from a certain place

Paired with: onjibide vii

onjibizoni' vta drive h/ from a certain place

Paired with: onjibizonitoon vti2

onjibizonitoon vti2 drive it from a certain place

onjibiisaa vii [S] rain comes from a certain way

onjida adv man on purpose, intentionally

onjidaabaadan vti drag, pull it from a certain place

Paired with: onjidaabaazh vta

onjidaabaade vii it is pulled, pushed, or dragged from a certain place (on something)

Paired with: onjidaabaazo vai

onjidaabaazh vta drag, pull h/ from a certain place

Paired with: onjidaabaadan vti

onjidaabaazo vai s/he or it (animate) is pulled, pushed, or dragged from a certain place (on something)

Paired with: onjidaabaade vii

onjidaabii vai s/he drags, pulls a load from a certain place, pulls a sled from a certain place

(causative) onjidaabii' vta drive it (animate; an animal or means of transportation) from a certain place
(detransitive) onjidaabii'iwe vai s/he drives from a certain place
onjidaabii' vta drive it (animate; an animal or means of transportation) from a certain place

onjidaabii'iwe vai s/he drives from a certain place

onjigawidoone vai s/he drools

onjigaa vii it leaks, drips, runs with sap

Paired with: onjigaa vai

onjigaa vai it (animate) leaks, drips; it (animate) runs with sap

Paired with: onjigaa vii

onjigidaazo vai s/he gets angry for certain reason, gets mad for a certain reason; s/he comes from a certain place angry, comes from a certain place mad

onjigozi vai s/he moves from a certain place

onjigwaashkwani vai s/he jumps from a certain place

onji' vta tell h/ not to do something; forbid, prohibit h/ from doing something

(reciprocal) onji'idiwag vai they tell each other not to do something; they forbid each other (detransitive) onji'iwe vai s/he tells people not to do something, prohibits or forbids people to do something
onji'aawaso vai s/he tells a child or children not to do something

onji'idiwag vai they forbid each other; they tell each other not to do something

onji'iwe vai s/he tells people not to do something, prohibits or forbids people to do something

onjijiwan vii it flows from a certain place

onjikawe vai s/he leaves tracks coming from a certain place

onjinanidiwag vai they injure, kill each other for a certain reason

onjinawe' vta make h/ mad for a certain reason, anger h/ for a certain reason

onjinazh vta injure, kill h/ for a certain reason

(reciprocal) onjinanidiwag vai they injure, kill each other for a certain reason
onjinigaadan vti carry it from a certain place on the shoulder

Paired with: onjinigaazh vta

onjinigaazh vta carry h/ from a certain place on shoulder

Paired with: onjinigaadan vti

onjinige vai s/he carries something on the shoulder from a certain place

onjinizhikaw vta chase h/ from a certain place

onjinizhimo vai s/he runs from a certain place in flight

onjipon vii snow comes from a certain place

onjise vai s/he flies from a certain place

Paired with: onjise vii

onjise vii it flies from a certain place

Paired with: onjise vai

onjishimo vai s/he dances from a certain place

onjishkawabi vai s/he sits facing the wind

onjishkawa'o vai s/he goes upwind in a boat

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.