wan•i•ganˈwɒn ɪ gən; ˈwæŋ gən(n.)

or wan•ni•gan ; also wan•gan, wan•gun

1. a small portable house, used as an office or shelter in temporary lumber camps.

2. (esp. in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest) a lean-to or other small addition built onto a house.

   Category: Common Vocabulary

Origin of wanigan:

1840–50; < Ojibwa wa∙nikka∙n pit, der. of wa∙nikke∙- to dig a hole in the ground < Proto-Algonquian *wa∙θehke∙- (*wa∙θ- hole + *-ehke∙- make)