Meanings
plural wickiups · alternative wakiup · alternative wikiup
- A domed hut, similar to a wigwam, used by some seminomadic Native American tribes, particularly in the southwestern and western United States.
They say his real name is Cimarron Seven, of the Choctaw Indian family of Sevens; he was raised in a tepee; a wickiup had been his bedroom, a blanket his robe.
1930, Edna Ferber, Cimarron, page 111 more example
At that time there were still indians camped on the western plains and late in the day he passed in his riding a scattered group of their wickiups propped upon that scoured and trembling waste.
1992, Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna lodge consisting of a frame covered with matting or brush; used by nomadic American Indians in the southwestern United States
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Foxwîkiyâpi“house”
- Englishwickiup
Wickiup-like structures were built by many Native American peoples throughout the Southwestern United States, and terms similar to wickiup are present "among Native Americans in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, and California", but the source of the word appears to be Fox wîkiyâpi (“house”). Alternatively, it may be a variant of wikiwam (“wigwam”). Either way, its ultimate origin is the Proto-Algonquian root *wi·kiwa·ʔmi (“house”). Doublet of wigwam.
More words from Fox
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
wickiup. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wickiup
“wickiup.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wickiup. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wickiup,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wickiup.
Source: wickiup on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.