Lake Nipigon
/leɪk nɪˈpɪɡən/noun
A large lake in northwestern Ontario, Canada, north of Lake Superior.
Did you know?Nipigon is an anglicized form associated with Ojibwe place-names, but the precise original meaning is debated rather than securely translated as a single phrase.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*lókus
“A lake, pool, or enclosed body of water; the proposed ancient source of several European lake-words.”
Classical Latin
Latin
lacus
“A lake, basin, or reservoir.”
Old English
Old English
lacu
“A stream, watercourse, or pool.”
Middle English
Middle English
lake
“A body of inland water, adopted through Anglo-French and related medieval forms.”
17th–18th Century
Ojibwe/English
Nipigon
“An English-rendered form of an Indigenous regional place-name; its exact underlying Ojibwe interpretation is disputed.”
Modern English
English
Lake Nipigon
“The established English name of the large Ontario lake, whose name combines the generic English geographic term with the Indigenous-derived proper name.”