tepee
Britishnoun
Etymology
Origin of tepee
C19: from Siouan tīpī, from ti to dwell + pi used for
Explanation
A tepee is a traditional dwelling used by indigenous North Americans in the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies. Tepees are cone-shaped tents made of animal skins and wooden poles. Tepee, which can also be spelled teepee or tipi, comes from the Lakota word thípi, meaning "dwelling." Typical tepees have flaps that open at the top, allowing smoke to escape. Their structure makes them portable but sturdy, and the treated skins keep their inhabitants warm in the winter and dry in the rain. Today, people in native communities mainly use tepees for ceremonies rather than homes.
Vocabulary lists containing tepee
Native American History - Introductory
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Native American History - Middle School and High School
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Civilizations of the Americas, Lessons 3–4
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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.
As Sitting Bull spoke, his younger wife entered the tepee and threw sticks on the fire before reclining in its glow.
From Slate • Oct. 25, 2021
To commemorate their return, the tribe raised a traditional tepee longhouse on the crest of the property.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 30, 2021
On a recent Friday, he was constantly in motion, sporting torn green coveralls and a sweat-stained hat, hugging visitors and pulling wagons and directing people to a tepee past the hay bales.
From Washington Post • Oct. 30, 2018
Duane Linklater, an Omaskêko Ininiwak artist from Canada, has installed towering tripodal works that recall the structure of the tepee and contrast starkly with the ever-rising condominium towers surrounding the High Line.
From New York Times • May 25, 2018
Where they were chained, their ends overlapped like the spokes of a tepee that had fallen on its side.
From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin
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.
