windigo

[ win-di-goh ]

noun

1. (in the folklore of the Ojibwe and other Algonquian peoples) a cannibalistic giant, the transformation of a person who has eaten human flesh.
2. Psychiatry. a culture-specific syndrome occurring primarily among the Ojibwe and other Algonquian peoples and characterized by fever-induced delusions that one is being possessed by a cannibalistic giant.

windigo

/ ˈwɪndɪˌɡəʊ /

noun

1. a variant of wendigo

Word History and Origins

Origin of windigo¹

First recorded in 1705–15; from Ojibwe wi·ntiko·; cognate with Cree wi·htiko·w

Example Sentences

If he is a real Windigo, it will only do him good by driving out the ice.

From Project Gutenberg

They might overtake him, and if they did, a Windigo could expect no mercy from them.

From Project Gutenberg

He did not intend that the Windigo should creep on their camp without his knowing it.

From Project Gutenberg

But we must watch that we are not taken unawares by the evil Windigo.

From Project Gutenberg

He is a Windigo, in league with the evil one and hungering for human flesh.

From Project Gutenberg