manitou
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of manitou
First recorded in 1605–15; from Unami Delaware monə́t·u, reinforced by or reborrowed from Ojibwe manidoo and other cognates (all from unrecorded Proto-Algonquian maneto·wa ); spelling influenced by equivalent French word
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Rejecting the Europeans’ acquisitive or utilitarian attitude to wealth or material possessions, they tapped the manitou of foreign products for spiritual power and social prestige as well as practical uses.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
In that part of the Northeast, tisquantum referred to rage, especially the rage of manitou, the world-suffusing spiritual power at the heart of coastal Indians’ religious beliefs.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
I am Seguin, the summer manitou; the flowers are obeying me, for I have bidden them arise.
From Blue Robin, the Girl Pioneer by Halsey, Rena I.
I am no manitou, but a man so weak he does not know the truth even for himself.
From Montlivet by Smith, Alice Prescott
Mr. James, in his MSS. in the possession of the New York Historical Society, states, “that the Menominees translate the manitou of the Chippeways by ahwahtoke,” which means emphatically a snake.
From Ophiolatreia An Account of the Rites and Mysteries Connected with the Origin, Rise, and Development of Serpent Worship in Various Parts of the World by Anonymous
While the snow and ice still held fast, Nokomis told them tales about the world of manitous and windigos, tales of Nanabozho, the comical teacher.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
When she talked to the manitous, Nokomis dipped out a pinch of tobacco.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
Nokomis was ready to make an offering to the spirits, or manitous.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
The spirits, the manitous who lived in all things, why had they ignored her prayers, her mother’s prayers, and the powerful prayers of Nokomis?
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
Such is the account which the worthy Jesuit gives of these manitous, or Indian gods.
From France and England in North America; a Series of Historical Narratives — Part 3 by Parkman, Francis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
