gris-gris
English
Alternative forms
- greegree, gri-gri, grigri, grisgris
Etymology
Unknown. Compare juju (“a fetish or charm”); compare also Mande gerregery or Mandingo gregory, an amulet or curse-object.[1]
Noun
gris-gris (plural gris-gris)
- An African, or Afro-American, charm or talisman.
- 1865, David Livingstone and Charles Livingstone, Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries:
- A horn, or rude image, is sometimes made use of as a means of preserving the medicines of defense, and is worn as an amulet. These images, horns, or other articles, called greegrees, or jeujeus, are not held sacred for a moment after the medicine is found to have lost its power […].
- 2008, Ned Sublette, The World That Made New Orleans, Lawrence Hill Books 2009, p. 61:
- The Bambara were not Muslim, but they knew how to make gris-gris.
- 1865, David Livingstone and Charles Livingstone, Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries:
Translations
charm
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See also
gris-gris on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- conjuration
- conjure (noun)
- hoodoo
References
- Jeffery Elton Anderson (2002) Conjure in African-American Society, PhD dissertation, University of Florida
French
Noun
gris-gris m (plural gris-gris)
- Alternative spelling of grigri (“A spell; an evil spirit”)
- 2014, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Tram 83:
- Selon les colportages du Tram 83, toutes les femmes de la Ville-Pays se servaient sauvagement des gris-gris pour alpaguer leur proie.
- According to the rumours at Tram 83, all the women in the City-State made aggressive use of charms to ensnare their prey.
- 2014, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Tram 83: