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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

Deer River
place
Deer River
Waawaashkeshiwi-ziibiing name place Deer River, Minnesota

defeat
vt
defeat
zhaagooji' vta defeat, overcome, beat h/

Paired with: zhaagoojitoon vti2

zhaagooji'iwe vai s/he defeats, overcomes people

zhaagoojitoon vti2 defeat, beat, overcome it

Paired with: zhaagooji' vta

zhaagoozom vta convince, persuade h/; get the best of h/ in an argument or debate

defeat in a contest or game
niiwezh vta defeat h/ (in a contest or game), beat h/ (in a contest or game)

niiwezhiwe vai s/he defeats people (in a contest or game), beats people (in a contest or game)

defecate
vi
defecate
miizii vai s/he defecates, shits

deflate
vt
deflate
zhiigoojiin vta deflate h/

Paired with: zhiigoojiinan vti

zhiigoojiinan vti deflate it

Paired with: zhiigoojiin vta

degree
n
regard to a certain degree
apiitendan vti be so proud of it; value, regard it so high

Paired with: apiitenim vta

apiitenim vta regard h/ to such an extent, be so proud of h/

Paired with: apiitendan vti

middling degree
gomaa adv deg some amount; to a middling degree

dejected
adj
dejected
osidaawendam vai2 s/he is sad, dejected, sorrowful

delicious
adj
taste delicious
wiingipogwad vii [BL] it is tasty, tastes delicious

Paired with: wiingipogozi vai [BL]

wiingipogozi vai [BL] it (animate) is tasty, tastes delicious

Paired with: wiingipogwad vii [BL]

den
n
den
waazh ni a den, a lair, a cave, a burrow

See also: waanzh ni

waanzh ni a den, a lair, a cave, a burrow

See also: waazh ni

live in den
dazhe vai s/he (an animal) lives in a certain place

denial
n
denial
ine pc disc exclamation of denial

denigrate
denigrate
aabiinzom vta quarrel with h/; denigrate, verbally abuse h/

aabiinzonge vai s/he denigrates, verbally abuses someone

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.