Meanings
nountotem pole (plural totem poles)
plural totem poles
- sculptureA Native American sculpture found in the Pacific Northwest, made by carving trees, and usually displaying symbolic figures that represent clan lineage, cultural beliefs, or historical events.
Many visitors to France will go back to the States after a three months' fling of night spots and sight-seeing without remarking that can-can girls and champagne play about the same part in French life today as the tom-tom and totem pole in American life.
1949 June 26, Ann Hightower, “If Paris Is Can-Can, New York Is Tom-Tom”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, page 167
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Translations
Arabic عَمُود رَمْز
- عَمُود رَمْز (ʕamūd ramz)sculpture
Danish totempæl
- totempælsculpture
Dutch totempaal
- totempaalsculpture
Esperanto totema paliso
- totema palisosculpture
Finnish toteemipaalu
- toteemipaalusculpture
French mât totémique
- mât totémiquesculpture
German Totempfahl
- Totempfahlsculpture
Hungarian totemoszlop
- totemoszlopsculpture
Norwegian Bokmål totempåle
- totempålesculpture
Portuguese totem
- totemsculpture
Romanian stâlp totemic
- stâlp totemicsculpture
Russian тоте́мный столб
- тоте́мный столб (totɛ́mnyj stolb)sculpture
Spanish tótem, poste totémico
- tótemsculpture
- poste totémicosculpture
Cite this entry
APA
totem pole. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/totem%20pole
MLA
“totem pole.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/totem%20pole. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “totem pole,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/totem%20pole.
Source: totem pole on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.