windigo
Americannoun
-
(in the folklore of the Ojibwe and other Algonquian peoples) a cannibalistic giant, the transformation of a person who has eaten human flesh.
-
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.
noun
Etymology
Origin of windigo
First recorded in 1705–15; from Ojibwe wi·ntiko·; cognate with Cree wi·htiko·w
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.
But what happened is, people tend to get what we call windigo sickness.
From Washington Post
Being called by the men was better than a story, even a windigo story, any old day.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
It was as though everyone’s heart were touched a little by the coming cold, as though a shadow of the windigo swept across their minds.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
Bad spirit makes a windigo strong as a bear.
From The Chase of Saint-Castin and Other Stories of the French in the New World by Catherwood, Mary Hartwell
The young Repentigny had been wondering what he should do with his windigo.
From The Chase of Saint-Castin and Other Stories of the French in the New World by Catherwood, Mary Hartwell
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.
