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totem

totem

noun toh-TEM Rare

Origin: From Ojibwe 'ototeman' (his kinship group).

Usage Note

Totem entered French via English and refers to an animal, plant, or object serving as the emblem of a clan or tribe, most famously in Indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest. In informal French, animal totem is used loosely to mean a person's spirit animal or symbolic creature.

Examples

"Le totem du clan représentait un aigle."

Natural Translation

The clan's totem represented an eagle.

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