Wigwam
/ˈwɪɡ.wɑːm/noun
A dome-shaped dwelling used by some Indigenous peoples of North America.
Did you know?English wigwam comes through colonial contact from an Eastern Algonquian word for a dwelling, and its journey shows how everyday English often preserves Indigenous architecture in plain sight.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Algonquian
PA
*wi·kiwa·m
“dwelling or house”
Eastern Abenaki / Massachusett
Algonquian
wetu / wigwôm
“house, dwelling, or lodge”
17th Century
English
wigwam
“a Native American dwelling, especially a dome-shaped lodge”
Modern English
English
wigwam
“a small, round, tentlike hut”