Iglu
/ˈiɡluː/noun
An Inuit snow house or shelter, especially a dome-shaped one built from blocks of snow.
Did you know?In Inuktitut, iglu simply means “house,” not just the famous snow dome; the specific snow shelter is often called an igluinnaq, showing how English narrowed a much broader Indigenous word.
Etymological Timeline
Inuktitut (pre-contact)
Inuktitut
iglu
“house; dwelling; shelter”
18th–19th Century
English
igloo
“borrowed form referring specifically to an Inuit snow house”
Modern English
English
igloo
“a dome-shaped shelter made of snow blocks”
Modern English
English
iglu
“less common spelling reflecting the source language more closely”