manitou
Americannoun
plural
manitous,plural
manitounoun
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.
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
That night"�Willie translated�"the manitou came again to the chief and . . . ordered, 'Twelve babies you bring in.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
The faithful sunset-tinted face of Blackbird, immovable as a fixed star, regarded the battered cobbler as it might have regarded a great manitou when the island was young.
From The Cobbler In The Devil's Kitchen From "Mackinac And Lake Stories", 1899 by Catherwood, Mary Hartwell
Generally it was quiet, but if the manitou heard good news, the water would sometimes jump away up, as it did when it first came.
From The Red Mustang by Stoddard, William O.
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.
