tepee

or tee·pee, ti·pi

[tee-pee]

See more synonyms for tepee on Thesaurus.com

noun

a tent of the American Indians, made usually from animal skins laid on a conical frame of long poles and having an opening at the top for ventilation and a flap door.

Compare lodge(def 9), wigwam.

Origin of tepee

1735–45, Americanism; < Dakota tʰípi, equivalent to tʰí- to dwell + -pi plural indefinite abstract noun suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for tepee

canvas, pavilion, encampment, tent, box, shed, chalet, cot, shelter, lean-to, shanty, shack, lodge, cottage, hovel, cabin, bungalow, wigwam, tabernacle, yurt

Examples from the Web for tepee

Contemporary Examples of tepee

Out West, in a tepee, on a reservation, alcohol, drug abuse, drain on society, poverty, uneducated—beaten down.
A Millennium After Inventing the Game, the Iroquois Are Lacrosse’s New Superpower
Evin Demirel
July 21, 2014

Historical Examples of tepee

Sierra Vista was a far vaster affair than the tepee of Grey Beaver.
White Fang
Jack London
Nothing happened, though the adjacent portions of the tepee moved.
White Fang
Jack London
As he peered in at the tepee door Wetherell perceived Pogosa dimly.
They of the High Trails
Hamlin Garland
A mutter of voices in Pogosa's tepee interrupted his thought.
They of the High Trails
Hamlin Garland
Pogosa was waiting, squatted on the ground at some distance from her tepee.
They of the High Trails
Hamlin Garland

British Dictionary definitions for tepee

tepee

teepee

noun

a cone-shaped tent of animal skins used by certain North American Indians

Word Origin for tepee

C19: from Siouan tīpī, from ti to dwell + pi used for

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tepee

1743, ti pee, from Dakota (Siouan) thipi "dwelling, house."