ᐃᒡᓗ

In Inuktitut, iglu (ᐃᒡᓗ) simply means 'house' or 'dwelling'—any house, made of any material. An iglu can be a sod house, a tent, a wooden cabin, or a building made of snow blocks. The word describes function (shelter), not material (snow).

When European explorers encountered Inuit peoples in the Arctic, they were fascinated by the snow houses—dome structures made from blocks of compacted snow, with remarkable insulating properties. They borrowed the word igloo but applied it only to the snow version, ignoring its broader meaning.

This narrowing is a common pattern in colonial linguistics: borrowing a word while stripping it of its full meaning. The Inuit built many types of homes suited to different seasons and conditions. The snow house was just one—typically a temporary winter hunting shelter, not a permanent residence. But igloo in English became synonymous with the snow dome exclusively.

The engineering of a snow igloo is remarkable: the dome shape distributes stress evenly, the snow blocks trap insulating air, and body heat inside raises the temperature to above freezing even when it's -40° outside. The Inuit solved an engineering problem that would challenge modern architects, using only the material at hand.