tepee

noun

te·​pee ˈtē-(ˌ)pē How to pronounce tepee (audio)
variants or teepee or less commonly tipi
: a conical tent usually consisting of skins and used especially by American Indians of the Great Plains

Illustration of tepee

Illustration of tepee

Examples of tepee in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There’s a twilight canoe outing on Bow River for a quintessential Canadian moment, white water rafting that ends with a night in Anishinabe-style tepees, excursions on float planes, and even a day of wine tasting in the Okanagan valley. Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 10 Feb. 2024 These aren’t ‘tepee rings,’ these are vision quest circles. Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Feb. 2024 Foreign companies are also building similar heated tepees, including Nortent in Norway and Eldfell in Sweden. Brett French, Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024 Rental villages of tepees, domes, A-frames and shipping containers sprawl across scrub-brush hillsides. Elizabeth Findell, WSJ, 25 Dec. 2023 Native American tribal members spend the week living in a tepee village just outside the rodeo grounds and perform dances in full regalia. Kent Edwards | Special To The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, 19 Sep. 2023 Top Load Light the tinder inside your tepee, and feed the fire from the top as needed to customize the blaze, like a mood-setting dimmer switch. T. Edward Nickens, Field & Stream, 29 June 2023 Lean the smallest sticks on the tepee, leaving a doorway to face the wind. Michael Stillwell, Popular Mechanics, 27 Mar. 2023 Frame the Walls Choose slow-burning whole green logs of white oak, ash, or birch to build the frame that will hold the tepee sticks upright. T. Edward Nickens, Field & Stream, 29 June 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tepee.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Dakota thípi, from thi- to dwell

First Known Use

1743, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tepee was in 1743

Dictionary Entries Near tepee

Cite this Entry

“Tepee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tepee. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

tepee

noun
te·​pee
variants or teepee also tipi
ˈtē-pē
: a cone-shaped tent usually of skins used as a home especially by American Indians of the Great Plains
Etymology

from thípi, a word in the language of the Dakota Indians meaning "a dwelling tent," from thí- "to dwell"

More from Merriam-Webster on tepee

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