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Dec 4, 2003
This week's theme
Words borrowed from Native American languages

This week's words
sachem
wampum
high-muck-a-muck
manitou
powwow

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

manitou or manito

PRONUNCIATION:
(MAN-i-too) Pronunciation

MEANING:
noun:
1. A supernatural force that pervades the world.
2. A spirit or deity.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Ojibwa manito.

USAGE:
"He (Michael Horse) teams up with Mulder and Scully to chase a mysterious animal, or spirit, Mulder suspects is a manitou."
David Bianculli; Timothy Leary is a Doctor on 'Brisco'; The Sun (Baltimore, Maryland); Apr 1, 1994.

"What is a sacred place, I wondered, except one that makes you feel humble and insignificant in the face of nature? And what is a manitou but the power of a place to move you to those thoughts?"
Greg Breining; The Power of Rock; Sierra (San Francisco); Jan/Feb 2001.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
All envy would be extinguished, if it were universally known that there are none to be envied. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)

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