macumba

macumba

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese macumba (“macumba; curse”), from Kimbundu makôba (or a related Bantu language of western Central Africa).

Noun

macumba (plural macumbas)

1. A type of Afro-Brazilian folk religion combining elements of Roman Catholicism with traditional African religious beliefs and practices; or a specific cult or ceremony of such religion. [from 20th c.]
   • 1988, Gregory Rabassa, translating Jorge Amado, Captains of the Sands, Penguin 2013, p. 79:

     And later on at the Gantóis macumba, Omolu, bedecked in red, had said that the day of vengeance for the poor would not be long in coming.

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French

Noun

macumba f (plural macumbas)

1. macumba

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Kimbundu makôba.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈkũ.bɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈkũ.bɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈkũ.ba/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐˈkũ.bɐ/

Noun

macumba f (plural macumbas)

1. any Afro-Brazilian religion
2. (Brazil) curse; hex