A dome-shaped or conical tent made of wooden poles and bark, hides, or mats, used traditionally by some Native American peoples, particularly in the Northeast.
From Algonquian languages (particularly Massachusetts/Wampanoag 'wikiwam' or 'wigwam'), meaning a dwelling or lodge. European colonists adopted the word to describe these structures, and it entered English as a legitimate architectural term.
Wigwams are super clever engineering—the dome or conical shape naturally sheds rain and snow, and they're way easier to heat than a straight-walled structure, which is why the design worked so well in harsh northeastern winters!
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