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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

ma'iinganiwi vai s/he is a wolf

maji- pv lex bad

maji-izhi vta speak ill of or to h/; swear at h/

maji-izhiwebizi vai s/he misbehaves, behaves improperly, is naughty, is evil

maji-manidoo na an evil spirit, a devil

maji-manidoowaadizi vai s/he is evil, is possessed by an evil spirit

maji-mashkiki ni poison; bad medicine: a remedy or spell having or intended to have negative results

majigiizhwe vai s/he swears

majigoodenh ni a dress

majinaagozi vai s/he looks bad, looks poor, looks inadequate

Paired with: majinaagwad vii

majinaagwad vii it looks bad, looks poor, looks inadequate

Paired with: majinaagozi vai

majitan vti dislike the sound of it

makade ni black gunpowder

makade- pv lex black; dark (color)

makade-aniibiish ni black tea

makade-aniibiishi-ozhaawishkwaa vii [NI] it is dark green

makade-bakwezhigan na unbleached flour

makade-bigiw na tar, asphalt

makade-ma'iingan na a black wolf

makade-manidoominens na a black bead

makade-manoomin ni black wild rice

makade-mashkikiwaabo ni [BL] coffee

See also: makade-mashkikiwaaboo ni [MN]

makade-mashkikiwaaboo ni [MN] coffee

See also: makade-mashkikiwaabo ni [BL]

makade-miigwan na a black feather

See also: makadewigwan na

makade-ozaawadowe vai s/he has dark-brown fur

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.