English Explanatory Dictionary

wendigo

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A malevolent and violent cannibal spirit found in Anishinaabe, Ojibwe, and Cree mythology, which is said to inhabit the body of a living person and possess him or her to commit murder.
  2. Synonym of splake (“kind of hybrid fish”).

Pronunciation

/ˈwɛndɪɡəʊ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-wendigo.wav /ˈwɛndiɡoʊ/

Word forms

wendigo wendigos wendigoes weendigo wiindigoo windago windiga windigo witigo wihtikow

Etymology

Borrowed from Ojibwe wiindigoo, from Proto-Algonquian *wi·nteko·wa (“owl; malevolent spirit, cannibalistic monster”). Compare Plains Cree wîhtikow, ᐃᐧᐦᑎᑯᐤ (“greedy person; cannibal; giant man-eating monster”).

Synonyms

wetiko wihtikow witigo witiko splake

Related words

skinwalker

Derived words

wendigo psychosis
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