Ojibwa
/oʊˈdʒɪbwə/noun
A member of a large Indigenous people of North America, also called Chippewa, or the language they speak.
Did you know?Ojibwa is an Anglicized form of an Algonquian name whose exact original sense is debated, but it is not a magical or occult term—its power is historical and cultural, not supernatural.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Contact / Indigenous
Algonquian
ojiibwe / ojibwe
“An Indigenous ethnonym used by the people now commonly called Ojibwa, with the precise original sense uncertain.”
17th-18th Century
French
Outchibouec / Ochipoua / Chippewa
“French renderings of the name as encountered in colonial records, varying by spelling and dialect.”
18th-19th Century
English
Ojibwa / Chippewa
“English spellings established through colonial transcription and usage.”
Modern English
English
Ojibwa
“The standard English form for the people and language, alongside the related form Chippewa.”