inukshuk

English

WOTD – 11 June 2011

Alternative forms

Inuksuk in the vicinity of Kuujjuarapik, Canada

• inuksuk

Etymology

From Inuktitut ᐃᓄᒃᓱᒃ (inoksok, “in the likeness of a human”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈnʊkˌʃʊk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

inukshuk (plural inukshuks or inukshuit or inuksuit)

1. A structure of piled stones, used as a landmark and traditionally constructed by the Inuit, often resembling a humanoid figure.
   • 2004, Pamela R Stern, Historical Dictionary of the Inuit, page 74:

     The Nunavut Territory flag bears a rendering of an inukshuk in the form of a crucifix.

   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 140:

     This is a miniature copy of an inukshuk that actually stands up on a ridgeline far away in the interior, rocks piled in roughly the shape of a human, not to threaten the stranger but to guide him in country where landmarks are either too few or too many to keep straight.

   • 6 March 2008, Inuit Inuksuit to be crafted and sold for 2010 Games. [headline of the article], The Globe and Mail:

References

• “inukshuk” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.