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miikanaake vai s/he makes a road or trail

miikanaakewidaabaan na a road construction truck

miikanaakewinini na a road worker

miikanaawan vii it is a road, is a trail

miikawaadad vii it is handsome, is beautiful

Paired with: miikawaadizi vai

miikawaadendan vti think it beautiful

Paired with: miikawaadenim vta

miikawaadendaagozi vai s/he is beautiful, is thought beautiful

Paired with: miikawaadendaagwad vii

miikawaadendaagwad vii it is beautiful, is thought beautiful

Paired with: miikawaadendaagozi vai

miikawaadenim vta think h/ beautiful

Paired with: miikawaadendan vti

miikawaadenimo vai s/he thinks h /self beautiful

miikawaadizi vai s/he is handsome, is beautiful; [BL] s/he is smart, clever, knows what s/he is doing

Paired with: miikawaadad vii

(verb of pretending) miikawaadiziikaazo vai [BL] s/he acts smart
miikawaadiziikaazo vai [BL] s/he acts smart

miikawinaagozi vai [BL] s/he is good-looking, is nice-looking

miikindizi vai s/he teases, provokes, irritates somebody

miikinji' vta provoke, tease, harass, bully h/

(reciprocal) miikinji'idiwag vai they provoke, tease, harass each other by speech (detransitive) miikinji'iwe vai s/he provokes, teases, harasses, bullies people
miikinji'idiwag vai they provoke, tease, harass each other by speech

miikinji'iwe vai s/he provokes, teases, harasses, bullies people

miikinzom vta tease, provoke, irritate h/ by speech

(reciprocal) miikinzondiwag vai they provoke, tease, harass each other by speech
miikinzondiwag vai they provoke, tease, harass each other by speech

miikogi vai s/he, it (animate) grows well

Paired with: miikogin vii

miikogin vii it grows well

Paired with: miikogi vai

miikonan vti shoot and hit it

Paired with: miikonaw vta

miikonaw vta shoot and hit h/

Paired with: miikonan vti

(detransitive) miikonaage vai s/he shoots on target, is a crack shot
miikonaage vai s/he shoots on target, is a crack shot

miikoshkaw vta bump in to h/

miikoshkoodoon vti2 shoot and hit it

Paired with: miikoshkoozh vta

miikoshkoozh vta shoot and hit h/

Paired with: miikoshkoodoon vti2

miikoshkoozo vai s/he is shot, hit by a projectile (arrow, bullet)

miikwa' vta hit h/ dead center with something

Paired with: miikwa'an vti

miikwa'an vti hit it dead center with something

Paired with: miikwa' vta

miikwa'wi vta [NI]

► miikwa' vta

miikwenim vta have confidence in h/, is confident of h/

miikwenimo vai s/he has confidence, is confident; s/he is confident

miin ni a blueberry

miinaganzh ni [BL] a blueberry plant

See also: miinagaawanzh na

miinagaawanzh na a blueberry plant

[
Vaccinium angustifolium
]

See also: miinaganzh ni [BL]

miinan ni blueberries (plural)

miinange adv deg especially, particularly, above all, of course; definitely

miinawaa adv conj also; and; again

miinens na a hawthorn fruit

miinensagaawanzh na a hawthorn tree

[
Crataegus spp.
]

miini-bakwezhigan na blueberry bannock

miini-baashkiminasigan ni blueberry sauce

miini-baashkiminasigani-biitoosijigani-bakwezhigan na a blueberry pie

miini-giizis na July; August

miinidiwag vai they give (something) to each other; they have a give-away

miinidiwin ni a give-away

miinigoowizi vai s/he receives a gift, is given a gift

miinikaa vii there are (many) blueberries

miinikaan ni a seed

miinikewi-giizis na [BL] July

miinobidoon vti2 straighten it (with hands)

Paired with: miinobizh vta

miinobizh vta straighten h/ (with hands)

Paired with: miinobidoon vti2

miinon vta put h/ right

Paired with: miinonan vti

miinonan vti straighten it; put it straight

Paired with: miinon vta

miinosidoon vti2 straighten it; set it straight

Paired with: miinoshim vta

miinoshim vta straighten h/; set h/ straight

Paired with: miinosidoon vti2

miinoshkan vti straighten it (with foot or body)

Paired with: miinoshkaw vta

miinoshkaw vta straighten h/ (with foot or body)

Paired with: miinoshkan vti

miinooj adv man do something against one's will or better judgement; nevertheless; reluctantly

miish adv pred and then; it is thus that

miishanowe vai s/he has a hairy cheek or hairy cheeks

miishaa vii it is hairy, is fuzzy

Paired with: miishizi vai

miishaabiwinaan ni an eyelash hair

See also: miishaabiwinaan na [BL]

miishaabiwinaan na [BL] an eyelash hair

See also: miishaabiwinaan ni

miishaakigan vai [S] he has a hairy chest

See also: miishaakigane vai [N]

miishaakigane vai [N] he has a hairy chest

See also: miishaakigan vai [S]

miishaanowe vai s/he (an animal) has a furry tail

miishaawigane vai [N] s/he has a hairy back

miishidaamikan vai [S] he has a beard

See also: miishidaamikane vai [N]

miishidaamikane vai [N] he has a beard

See also: miishidaamikan vai [S]

miishidenigome vai s/he has hairy nostrils

miishidoon vai [S] he has a moustache

See also: miishidoone vai [N]

miishidoone vai [N] he has a moustache

See also: miishidoon vai [S]

miishigaade vai s/he has hairy legs

miishigidigwe vai s/he has a hairy knee or hairy knees

miishijiimin na a peach

miishijiimini-baashkiminasigan ni peach sauce or jam

miishinike vai s/he has hairy arms

miishitawage vai s/he has hairy ears

miishizi vai s/he is hairy, is fuzzy

Paired with: miishaa vii

miishizide vai s/he has hairy feet

miishiigad vii it is fuzzy (as something sheet-like)

Paired with: miishiigizi vai

miishiigin ni velvet

miishiigizi vai s/he is fuzzy (as something sheet-like)

Paired with: miishiigad vii

miishiingwe vai s/he has a hairy face, is bearded

miiwag pron dem [BL] those are the ones (animate plural)

miiwa' pron dem [BL] those are ones (obviative plural)

miiwaji vai s/he can't stand the cold

miiwan pron dem that's the one (obviative)

miiwan pron dem [BL] those are the ones (inanimate plural)

miiwanaamozo vai s/he can't stand the smoke, is driven away by the smoke

miiwanaandam vai s/he can't stand being hungry, can't stay somewhere because of hunger

miiwaakizo vai s/he can't stand the heat

miiwi' vta reject, rebuff h/; drive h/ away

miiwin vta push h/ away, reject h/

Paired with: miiwinan vti

miiwinan vti push it away, reject it

Paired with: miiwin vta

(detransitive) miiwinige vai s/he pushes things away, rejects things (verb of undergoing) miiwinigaade vii it is pushed away, is rejected (by someone), "they" push it away, reject it
miiwinigaade vii it is pushed away, is rejected (by someone), "they" push it away, reject it

miiwinige vai s/he pushes things away, rejects things

miiwizagimewe vai s/he can't stand the mosquitoes, is driven away by the mosquitoes

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.