windigo

American  

[win-di-goh] / ˈwɪn dɪˌgoʊ /

noun

1. (in the folklore of the Ojibwe and other Algonquian peoples) a cannibalistic giant, the transformation of a person who has eaten human flesh.

2. Psychiatry. a culture-specific syndrome occurring primarily among the Ojibwe and other Algonquian peoples and characterized by fever-induced delusions that one is being possessed by a cannibalistic giant.

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windigo British  

/ ˈwɪndɪˌɡəʊ /

noun

1. a variant of wendigo

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Etymology

Origin of windigo

First recorded in 1705–15; from Ojibwe wi·ntiko·; cognate with Cree wi·htiko·w

Example Sentences

“Those who listen to the Windigo song aren’t bad people,” Gardner said.

From Seattle Times

The wind churned snow across the prairies, so Dr. Carson Gardner, the medical director of White Earth Nation’s health department, told the tale of the Windigo as a metaphor for addiction.

From Seattle Times

But what happened is, people tend to get what we call windigo sickness.

From Washington Post

“Windigo!” said Pinch, returning, his arms stacked with wood.

From Literature

“We’re very small,” she said, “just human. Help us to live this winter through. Come to us, especially, during the harshest moon, the Crust On The Snow Moon, when so often meat is scarce, when the ice is too thick to catch many fish, when disease breaks us and the windigo spirit, the Hungry One, comes stalking from house to Anishinabe house. Oh, daga, wedookaow Anishinabeg. Wedookaow Anishinabeg,” she asked.

From Literature