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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

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; get h/ as game from a certain place, catch h/ as game at a certain place

(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

onjishkawakwazhiwe vai s/he paddles into the wind

onjishkawaadagaako vai s/he walks on the ice going against the wind

onjishkawibatoo vai s/he runs into the wind

onjishkawise vai s/he flies into the wind

onjishkawishkaa vai s/he goes upwind

onjitigweyaa vii it (river) flows from a certain place

onjiwane vai s/he carries a pack from a certain place

onjiwebishkan vti kick it from a certain place; shove it from a certain place (with foot or body)

Paired with: onjiwebishkaw vta

onjiwebishkaw vta kick h/ from a certain place; shove h/ from a certain place (with foot or body)

Paired with: onjiwebishkan vti

onjiwidaaso vai s/he carries a load from a certain place, hauls freight from a certain place

onjiwidoon vti2 take, carry it from a certain place

Paired with: onjiwizh vta

(detransitive) onjiwijige vai s/he takes, carries things from a certain place (detransitive) onjiwidaaso vai s/he carries a load from a certain place, hauls freight from a certain place (verb of undergoing) onjiwijigaazo vai s/he is carried from a certain place (by someone), "they" carry h/ from a certain place (verb of undergoing) onjiwijigaade vii it is carried from a certain place (by someone), "they" carry it from a certain place
onjiwijigaade vii it is carried from a certain place (by someone), "they" carry it from a certain place

onjiwijigaazo vai s/he is carried from a certain place (by someone), "they" carry h/ from a certain place

onjiwijige vai s/he takes, carries things from a certain place

onjiwizh vta take, carry h/ from a certain place

Paired with: onjiwidoon vti2

onjii vai s/he comes from a certain place

Paired with: onjiimagad vii

onjiimagad vii it is from a certain place

Paired with: onjii vai

ono pron dem these (animate obviative); this (animate obviative)

See also: onow pron dem ; onowe pron dem [N]

ono pron dem these (inanimate plural)

See also: onow pron dem ; onowe pron dem

onoshenyan nad h/ aunt (parallel aunt: mother's sister); h/ stepmother

onow pron dem these (inanimate plural)

See also: onowe pron dem

onow pron dem these (animate obviative); this (animate obviative)

See also: onowe pron dem [N] ; ono pron dem

onow nid [ML] h/ cheek

onowe pron dem these (inanimate plural)

See also: onow pron dem

onowe pron dem [N] these (animate obviative); this (animate obviative)

See also: onow pron dem ; ono pron dem

onowedi pron dem this over here (animate obviative); these over here (animate obviative)

See also: onowedin pron dem

onowedin pron dem these over here [inanimate plural demonstrative]; this/these over here [obviative demonstrative]

See also: onowedi pron dem

onowen pron dem [RL] these (inanimate plural)

See also: onowe pron dem ; onow nid [ML]

onoogan nid h/ hip

onwaachige vai s/he foretells the future, prophesies

onwaachigewin ni a prophecy

onwaatoon vti2 have a premonition of it

(detransitive) onwaachige vai s/he foretells the future, prophesies
(derived noun) onwaachigewin ni a prophecy
onwaawe vai s/he hiccoughs, hiccups

onwaawese vai s/he has a sudden attack of the hiccoughs

onzan vti boil it

Paired with: onzo vta

(detransitive) onzige vai s/he boils things (verb of undergoing) onzigaade vii it is boiled (by someone), "they" boil it (verb of undergoing) onzigaazo vai s/he is boiled (by someone), "they" boil h/
onzaabam vta see, watch h/ from a certain place

Paired with: onzaabandan vti

onzaabandan vti see, watch it from a certain place

Paired with: onzaabam vta

onzaabi vai s/he looks out from a certain place

(derived noun) onzaabiwin ni a lookout point or tower
onzaabiwin ni a lookout point or tower

onzaam adv qnt
  1. too, too much, excessively
  2. because (of an excess or an extreme condition or event)

onzaam bangii adv qnt too little

See also: bangii adv qnt ; onzaam adv qnt

onzaam besho adv loc too close

See also: besho adv loc ; onzaam adv qnt

onzaam niibiwa adv qnt too many; too much

See also: niibiwa adv qnt [N] ; onzaam adv qnt

onzaam niibowa adv qnt too much

See also: niibowa adv qnt [S] ; onzaam adv qnt ; onzaam niibiwa adv qnt

onzaam wayiiba adv tmp too early, too soon

See also: onzaam adv qnt ; wayiiba adv tmp

onzaam waasa adv loc too far

See also: onzaam adv qnt ; waasa adv loc

onzaam wiiba adv tmp [BL] too early, too soon

See also: onzaam adv qnt ; wiiba adv tmp [N]

onzaam wiikaa adv tmp too late

See also: onzaam adv qnt ; wiikaa adv tmp

onzaamadaawe vai s/he overspends

onzaamashkinadoon vti2 overfill it (with solids)

Paired with: onzaamashkina' vta

onzaamashkina' vta overfill h/ (with solids)

Paired with: onzaamashkinadoon vti2

onzaamashkine vai s/he is overfull (with solids)

onzaamashkine vii it is overfull (with solids)

Paired with: onzaamashkine vai

onzaamaabaawadoon vti2 get it too wet

Paired with: onzaamaabaawazh vta

onzaamaabaawazh vta get h/ too wet

Paired with: onzaamaabaawadoon vti2

onzaamaabaawe vii it is too wet, is soaked

Paired with: onzaamaabaawe vai

onzaamaabaawe vai s/he is too wet, is soaked

Paired with: onzaamaabaawe vii

onzaamaabikide vii it (mineral) is too hot

onzaamaaboono vai s/he goes past a deadline; s/he slides too far

onzaamaagamanjige vai s/he drinks too much

onzaamaagonagaa vii there is too much snow

onzaamaajimo vai s/he tells something s/he shouldn't have

(applicative) onzaamaajimotaw vta tell h/ too much, tell h/ more than desired
onzaamaajimotaw vta tell h/ too much, tell h/ more than desired

onzaamaakide vii it is burnt crisp

Paired with: onzaamaakizo vai

onzaamaakiz vta burn h/ to a crisp

Paired with: onzaamaakizan vti

onzaamaakizan vti burn it crisp; burn too much of it

See also: onzaamaakiz vta

(detransitive) onzaamaakizige vai s/he burns too much fuel; s/he overindulges in alcohol
onzaamaakizige vai s/he overindulges in alcohol; s/he burns too much fuel

onzaamaakizo vai s/he is burnt crisp

Paired with: onzaamaakide vii

onzaamaakizwi vta [NI]

► onzaamaakiz vta

onzaamaanagidoon vai [S] s/he talks too much, is mouthy

See also: onzaamaanagidoone vai [BL]

onzaamaanagidoone vai [BL] s/he talks too much, is mouthy

See also: onzaamaanagidoon vai [S]

onzaamaanimad vii it is extremely windy

onzaamaapi vai s/he laughs hard

onzaamaapi' vta laugh hard at h/

Paired with: onzaamaapitoon vti2

onzaamaapitoon vti2 laugh hard at it

Paired with: onzaamaapi' vta

onzaamendam vai2 s/he gives too much consideration

onzaamendi vai s/he is gone longer than expected, overstays

onzaamenimo vai s/he is elated, is overexcited

onzaami- pv lex too; excessively; extremely; too much

onzaami-niibowa adv qnt an excessive amount, way too much

onzaamibadoon vti2 overfill it (with a liquid)

Paired with: onzaamibazh vta

onzaamibagizo vai s/he oversteps, overdoes a deliberate motion

onzaamibatoo vai s/he overruns

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.