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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

wisdom
n
wisdom
nibwaakaawin ni wisdom

wise
adj
wise
nibwaakaa vai s/he is wise, is intelligent

wish
vi
wish for
agaawaadan vti wish for, hope for, want, desire it (something difficult to get)

Paired with: agaawaazh vta

agaawaazh vta wish for, hope for, want, desire h/ or it (animate) (someone/something difficult to get)

Paired with: agaawaadan vti

bagosendan vti wish for, hope for, want, desire it (something difficult to get)

Paired with: bagosenim vta

I wish that
ambegish adv pred I wish that ...; I hope that ...

See also: apegish adv pred

apegish adv pred I wish that ...; I hope that ...

See also: ambegish adv pred

wish
bagosenim vta wish of, have hope for h/; wish for, hope for h/

Paired with: bagosendan vti

with
prep
with
wiiji- pv lex in company with; with

wiisookodaadiwag vai they associate with each other, are with each other frequently, are friendly with each other

associate with
wiisookaw vta associate with, be frequently with, be friendly with h/

dance with
wiijishimotaw vta dance with h/

eat with
wiidoopam vta eat with h/

wiidoopange vai s/he eats with others

wiidoopandiwag vai they eat with each other

go with
wiijiiw vta go with, come with, accompany h/

wiijiindiwag vai they go with, come with, accompany each other

wiiji'iwe vai s/he accompanies (people); s/he goes along with (people), goes with (people)

in a place with
dago- pv lex in a place with

play with
wiiji' vta
  1. help h/
  2. play with h/

sit with
wiidabim vta sit with h/

wiidabindiwag vai they sit with each other

sleep with
wiipem vta sleep with h/

Paired with: wiipendan vti

wiipendan vti sleep with it

Paired with: wiipem vta

wiipendiwag vai they sleep with each other

wiipemaagan na a sleeping partner

wiipemaawaso vai s/he sleeps with children protectively

stay with
wiij'ayaaw vta be with h/; stay with h/

walk with
wiida'adoom vta walk with h/ on the trail or road

wiidosem vta walk with h/ on the trail or road

wiidosendiwag vai they walk with each other

work with
wiidanokiim vta work with h/

wiidanokiindiwag vai they work with each other, work together

with
[used at the same time]
prep
cook with
dagoz vta cook h/ with something else

Paired with: dagozan vti

dagozan vti cook it with something else

Paired with: dagoz vta

without
prep
without anything special
michi- pv lex barely; by hand; without anything special; by no other means

witness
n
witness
waabange vai s/he observes people, is a spectator, is a witness

wolf
n
wolf
ma'iingan na a wolf

[
timberwolf / gray wolf
; 
Canis lupus
]

black wolf
makade-ma'iingan na a black wolf

white wolf
waabishki-ma'iingan na a white wolf

wolf hide
n
wolf hide
ma'iinganiwayaan na a wolf hide

wolverine
n
wolverine
gwiingwa'aage na a wolverine

[
Gulo gulo
]

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.