noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈɪɡ.luː/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:IH1 G L UW0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A dome-shaped Inuit shelter, constructed of blocks cut from snow.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A cavity, or excavation, made in the snow by a seal, over its breathing hole in the sea ice.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, natural-sciences, zoology
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A reinforced bunker for the storage of nuclear weapons.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: government, military, politics, war
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A kind of airfreight cargo container.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: logistics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
an Eskimo hut; usually built of blocks (of sod or snow) in the shape of a dome
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: iglu
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: hovel, hut, hutch, shack, shanty
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Eskimo *ǝŋlu Proto-Inuit *ǝɣlu Inuktitut ᐃᒡᓗ (iclo)bor. English igloo From Inuktitut ᐃᒡᓗ (iclo, “house, building (of any kind)”), from Proto-Inuit *ǝɣlu, from Proto-Eskimo *ǝŋlu.
Across languages
Translations
69 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
مَبْنًى قَبَّانِي
(mabnan qabbānī)
— Inuit snow house
Arabic:
مَبْنًى اَلقَبَّانِي
(mabnan al-qabbānī)
— Inuit snow house
Assamese:
ইগ্লো
(iglü)
— Inuit snow house
Asturian:
iglú
— Inuit snow house
Bulgarian:
иглу
(iglu)
— Inuit snow house
Catalan:
iglú
— Inuit snow house
Chinese Cantonese:
冰屋
(bing1 uk1)
— Inuit snow house
Chinese Cantonese:
雪屋
(syut3 uk1)
— Inuit snow house
Chinese Mandarin:
冰屋
(bīngwū)
— Inuit snow house
Cree:
ᐄᔅᒌᒣᐅᑲᒥᒄ
(iischiimeukamikw)
— Inuit snow house
Czech:
iglú
— Inuit snow house
Danish:
iglo
— Inuit snow house
Dutch:
iglo
— Inuit snow house
Esperanto:
iglo
— Inuit snow house
Faroese:
iglo
— Inuit snow house
Finnish:
iglu
— Inuit snow house
French:
igloo
— Inuit snow house
French:
iglou
— Inuit snow house
Galician:
iglú
— Inuit snow house
German:
Iglu
— Inuit snow house
German:
Schneehaus
— Inuit snow house
German:
Schneehütte
— Inuit snow house
Greek:
ιγκλού
(igkloú)
— Inuit snow house
Greenlandic:
illuigaq
— Inuit snow house
Greenlandic:
illu
— Inuit snow house
Hebrew:
איגלו
(íglu)
— Inuit snow house
Hindi:
इग्लू
(iglū)
— Inuit snow house
Hindi:
इगलू
(iglū)
— Inuit snow house
Hungarian:
iglu
— Inuit snow house
Icelandic:
snjóhús
— Inuit snow house
Ido:
igluo
— Inuit snow house
Indonesian:
iglo
— Inuit snow house
Indonesian:
igloo
— Inuit snow house
Indonesian:
iglu
— Inuit snow house
Inuktitut:
iglu
— Inuit snow house
Irish:
íoglú
— Inuit snow house
Italian:
iglù
— Inuit snow house
Japanese:
イグルー
(igurū)
— Inuit snow house
Korean:
이글루
(igeullu)
— Inuit snow house
Malay:
iglu
— Inuit snow house
Marathi:
इगलू
(iglū)
— Inuit snow house
Occitan:
igló
— Inuit snow house
Ojibwe:
mikwamiiwigamig
— Inuit snow house
Pashto:
ايغلو
— Inuit snow house
Polish:
igloo
— Inuit snow house
Polish:
iglu
— Inuit snow house
Portuguese:
iglu
— Inuit snow house
Russian:
и́глу
(íglu)
— Inuit snow house
Scottish Gaelic:
taigh-sneachda
— Inuit snow house
Spanish:
iglú
— Inuit snow house
Swedish:
snöhydda
— Inuit snow house
Swedish:
igloo
— Inuit snow house
Sylheti:
ꠁꠉꠟꠥ
(igolu)
— Inuit snow house
Tagalog:
iglu
— Inuit snow house
Tamil:
இக்லூ
(iklū)
— Inuit snow house
Thai:
อิกลู
(ìk-luu)
— Inuit snow house
Tibetan:
ཁྱགས་རོམ་ཁང་པ
(khyags rom khang pa)
— Inuit snow house
