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igloo

Etymology and origin of the English word igloo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɪɡ.luː/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from an Inuit (Eskimo) word iglu “house, dwelling”;[2][3][4][5][6] compare Greenlandic igdlo (“house”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An Inuit dome-shaped hut, especially one built of blocks of hard snow (1662 in the OED, but 1824, in Canadian English, in Barnhart and Etymonline).[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The sources date the word variously: 1856 in Merriam-Webster and 1855–60 in Random House.[5][6] Merriam-Webster notes that a permanent igloo may be built of sod, wood or stone.[5] By 1956 the word was applied to any small dome-shaped building or structure,[7][4] including military stores for rockets and munitions.[6]

Timeline

  • 1662 – the Inuit dwelling (OED).[7]
  • 1824 – Canadian English (Barnhart, Etymonline).[3][4]
  • 1956 – any dome-shaped structure.[7][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An Inuit dwelling, especially a dome-shaped winter house built of blocks of packed snow.
  2. A dome-shaped structure or building.
  3. A hollow made by a seal in the snow over its breathing hole in the ice.

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Igloo.” Etymologically, 14 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/igloo. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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