voodoo
pronunciation
How to pronounce voodoo in British English:
UK [ˈvu:du:]
How to pronounce voodoo in American English:
US [ˈvudu]
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- Noun:
- a charm superstitiously believed to embody magical powers
- a religious cult practiced chiefly in Caribbean countries (especially Haiti); involves witchcraft and animistic deities
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- Verb:
- bewitch by or as if by a voodoo
Word Origin
- voodoo (n.)
- religious witchcraft of Haiti and Southern U.S., ultimately of African origin, 1850, from Louisiana French voudou, from a West African language (such as Ewe and Fon vodu "spirit, demon, deity," also Vandoo, supposedly the name of an African deity, from a language of Dahomey). Compare vodun "fetish connected with snake worship in Dahomey," said to be from vo "to be afraid," or vo "harmful." The verb is attested from 1880.
Example
- 1. Voodoo has been practised on the island for almost 300 years
- 2. Voodoo believers pose for a picture during a mass ritual at the plaine du nord festival
- 3. A voodoo believer swims in a mud pool during a mass ritual at the plaine du nord festival
- 4. A voodoo believer lowers a child into a mud pool during a mass ritual at the plaine du nord festival
- 5. A voodoo believer offers a rooster to the spirits at a mass ritual during the plaine du nord festival