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powwow.

A ritual conducted by a Native American shaman.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈpaʊ(ˌ)waʊ/
  1. A ritual conducted by a Native American shaman.

  2. A Native American shaman.

  3. A Native American council or meeting.

  4. A short, private conference.

    informal
  5. A large gathering during which Indigenous songs and dances are showcased for an audience, essentially a recital or concert. Often also doubles as a fundraiser, or can be held in conjunction with a non-indigenous fair or exhibition in order to attract a large crowd, as at the Calgary Stampede and K-Days.

    Canada · US
  6. A tradition of folk magic practiced by the Pennsylvania Dutch.

Where this word comes from

From an Eastern Algonquian language, probably Massachusett pauwau (“he uses divination; he practices magic or sorcery”) or Narragansett powwáw (“sorcerer, shaman”), ultimately from Proto-Algonquian *pawe·wa (“one who dreams”).

verb/ˈpaʊ(ˌ)waʊ/
  1. To hold a meeting; to gather together in council.

    intransitive
  2. To conduct a ritual in which magic is used.

    intransitive
  3. To hold a private conference.

    informal · intransitive · offensive · often
Where this word comes from

From an Eastern Algonquian language, probably Massachusett pauwau (“he uses divination; he practices magic or sorcery”) or Narragansett powwáw (“sorcerer, shaman”), ultimately from Proto-Algonquian *pawe·wa (“one who dreams”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.