Etymology

wendigo

wen·di·go
W4E1N1D2I1G2O1

Today it means: A malevolent and violent cannibal spirit found in Anishinaabe, Ojibwe, and Cree mythology, which is said to inhabit the body of a living person and possess him or her to commit murder. Full definition →

Ojibwe wiindigoo ← Proto-Algonquian *wi·nteko·wa
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The story

  1. Proto-Algonquian · derived from*wi·nteko·wa“owl; malevolent spirit, cannibalistic monster”
  2. Ojibwe · borrowed fromwiindigoo
  3. English todaywendigo

Borrowed from Ojibwe wiindigoo, from Proto-Algonquian *wi·nteko·wa (“owl; malevolent spirit, cannibalistic monster”). Compare Plains Cree wîhtikow, ᐃᐧᐦᑎᑯᐤ (“greedy person; cannibal; giant man-eating monster”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.