Search the dictionary Advanced Search

How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

madaabiiyaanimad vii the wind blows to the lake

madaabiiyaanimizi vai s/he runs down to the shore in fear

madaabiiyaawadaaso vai s/he hauls a load down to the shore

madaabiiyaawadoon vti2 haul it down to the shore

(detransitive) madaabiiyaawadaaso vai s/he hauls a load down to the shore
madaabiiyaawanidiwag vai they go down to shore in a group

madaabiiyoode vii it crawls down to the lake

madaagamin vii it is turbulent water

madaako vai s/he gets out on the ice, goes on the ice

madaakon vai + o get out on, go out on it on the ice

madenamaw vta

madendaagozi vai s/he is helpless, is good for nothing

madoodison ni [NI] [RL] a sweat lodge

See also: madoodiswan ni

madoodisonaatig] ni [NI] a sweat lodge pole

madoodisonike vai [NI] [RL] s/he puts up a sweat lodge

madoodiswan ni a sweat lodge

See also: madoodison ni [NI] [RL]

madoodiswaagen vai + o use it for a sweat lodge

madoodoo vai s/he takes a sweat bath

madoodoo'iwe vai s/he runs a sweat

madoodoowasin na a rock for a sweat lodge

madoodoowinini na a Finn

madwe- pv lex audible; being heard; making noise; visible

madwebagaasin vii the leaves can be heard blowing in the wind

madwebatoo vai s/he is heard running

madwebide vii it is heard driving, is heard running or operating, is idling

Paired with: madwebizo vai

madwebidoon vti2 make noise pulling or ripping it

Paired with: madwebizh vta

(detransitive) madwebijige vai s/he makes noise pulling or ripping something

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.