wanigan

Also wan·gan,

[won-i-guhn]

noun

1. a lumberjack's trunk.

2. a lumber camp's supply chest.

3. a small house on wheels or tractor treads, used as an office or shelter in temporary lumber camps.

4. (especially in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest) a lean-to or other small addition built onto a house trailer, cabin, etc.

wanigan

/ ˈwɒnɪgən /

noun

1. a lumberjack's chest or box

2. a cabin, caboose or houseboat

Word History and Origins

Origin of wanigan¹

First recorded in 1840–50; from Ojibwe wa·nikka·n “pit,” derivative of wa·nikke·- “to dig a hole in the ground” from unattested Proto-Algonquian wa·θehke·- (unattested wa·θ- “hole” + -ehke·- “make”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of wanigan¹

C19: from Algonquian

Example Sentences

And that wanigan wooden box he kept opening for supplies?

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Come all you friends of the Red Gods and I will tell you a wonderful tale Of the time when all men were he-men who followed the Wanigan trail.

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"Ordinarily on drive we have a wanigan," said Welton.

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When night came the men rode down stream to where the wanigan had made camp.

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Billy Camp began to worry about shooting the wanigan through the sluice-way.

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