wigwam
noun
- a type of tent or dwelling used by Native Americans
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈwɪɡwɑːm/
noun
Etymology: Borrowed from Abenaki wigwôm (“house”) or Penobscot wigwom (“house”), from Proto-Algonquian *wi·kiwa·ʔmi (“house”). Doublet of wickiup.
- A dwelling having an arched framework overlaid with bark, hides, or mats, used by Native Americans in the northeastern United States.
- Any more or less similar dwelling used by indigenous people in other parts of the world.
“Their houſes or wigwams, which they call carbets, are built as I have already deſcribed thoſe of the negroes; but inſtead of being covered with the leaves of the manicole-tree, they are covered with the leaves of rattans or jointed canes, here called tas, which grow in cluſters in all marſhy places: [...]”
“The Fuegian wigwam resembles, in size and dimensions, a haycock. It merely consists of a few broken branches stuck in the ground, and very imperfectly thatched on one side with a few tufts of grass and rushes.”
verb
Etymology: Borrowed from Abenaki wigwôm (“house”) or Penobscot wigwom (“house”), from Proto-Algonquian *wi·kiwa·ʔmi (“house”). Doublet of wickiup.
- To dry (flax or straw) by standing it outside in the shape of a wigwam.