voodoo

voodoo

See also: Voodoo

English

Etymology

From Louisiana Creole French voudou, from Haitian Creole vodou, from a West African language, such as Ewe vódũ (“deity, idol”), Fon vòdún (“fetish”) or the Kwa languages vodũ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvuːduː/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -uːduː

Noun

voodoo (countable and uncountable, plural voodoos)

1. Any of a group of related religious practices found chiefly in and around the Caribbean, particularly in Haiti and Louisiana.
   • 2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books 2007, p. 13:

     You cannot understand Haitian Vodou as it is practised today without first knowing something about the culture from which it sprang, and the ways history has shaped religion, and vice versa.

2. The spiritual beliefs of the Ewe/Fon of West Africa, practiced chiefly in Benin and in the south of Togo.
3. (derogatory) Any sort of magical or irrational approach to a problem.

   I want a real explanation, not this statistical voodoo.

4. (dated) One who practices voodoo; a native sorcerer.
   • 1889, Longman's Magazine (volume 14, page 557)

     So a reporter of the Boston Herald (U.S.) has 'interviewed' a few local Voodoos. He has seen a dance round a boiling pot, seen some tomfoolery with spiders, and heard a lot of superstitious stories.

Alternative forms

• (religion of Africa or the Americas): vodou, vodoun, voudon, voudoun, vodun, voudou, Voodoo

Synonyms

• (religion): voodooism

Derived terms

Derived terms

• voodoo death
• voodoo doll
• voodoo economics
• voodooism
• voodooist
• voodoo programming
• voodoo science

Translations

Afro-Caribbean religion

Afrikaans: voedoe Arabic: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: вуду (bg) n (vudu) Catalan: vodú m, vudú m Chinese: Mandarin: 巫毒教 (wūdújiào) Czech: vúdú n Danish: voodoo c Dutch: voodoo (nl) m Esperanto: voduo Finnish: voodoo (fi) French: vaudou (fr) Georgian: ვუდუ (vudu) German: Voodoo (de) m, Wodu (de) m, Voudou (de) m Haitian Creole: Vodou Italian: voodoo (it) m, vudù (it) m, vudu m Japanese: ブードゥー教 (būdū-kyō) Korean: 부두교 (budugyo) Norwegian: please add this translation if you can Persian: please add this translation if you can Polish: voodoo (pl) n, wudu (pl) f Portuguese: vodu (pt) m Russian: ву́ду (ru) m (vúdu) Spanish: vudú (es) Swedish: voodoo (sv) c Turkish: vudu Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can Welsh: fwdw m

Verb

voodoo (third-person singular simple present voodoos, present participle voodooing, simple past and past participle voodooed)

1. To bewitch someone or something using voodoo

   He claimed his neighbor had voodooed him.

See also

• hoodoo
• Haitian Vodou on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• West African Vodun on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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Finnish

Etymology

From English voodoo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋuːduː/, [ˈʋuːduː]

Noun

voodoo

1. voodoo

Declension

Inflection of voodoo (Kotus type 20/filee, no gradation)
nominative		voodoo	voodoot
genitive		voodoon	voodoiden voodoitten
partitive		voodoota	voodoita
illative		voodoohon voodooseen	voodoihin voodoisiin
		singular	plural
nominative		voodoo	voodoot
accusative	nom.	voodoo	voodoot
	gen.	voodoon
genitive		voodoon	voodoiden voodoitten
partitive		voodoota	voodoita
inessive		voodoossa	voodoissa
elative		voodoosta	voodoista
illative		voodoohon voodooseen	voodoihin voodoisiin
adessive		voodoolla	voodoilla
ablative		voodoolta	voodoilta
allative		voodoolle	voodoille
essive		voodoona	voodoina
translative		voodooksi	voodoiksi
instructive		—	voodoin
abessive		voodootta	voodoitta
comitative		—	voodoineen

Possessive forms of voodoo (type filee)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	voodooni	voodoomme
2nd person	voodoosi	voodoonne
3rd person	voodoonsa

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Italian

Noun

voodoo m (invariable)

1. Alternative spelling of vudù

Adjective

voodoo (invariable)

1. Alternative spelling of vudù

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English voodoo, from Louisiana Creole French voudou, from Haitian Creole vodou, from a West African language.

Noun

voodoo m (definite singular voodooen, indefinite plural voodooer, definite plural voodooene)

1. voodoo

References

• “voodoo” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English voodoo, from Louisiana Creole French voudou, from Haitian Creole vodou, from a West African language.

Noun

voodoo m (definite singular voodooen, indefinite plural voodooar, definite plural voodooane)

1. voodoo

References

• “voodoo” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Polish

Alternative forms

• wudu

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English voodoo, from Louisiana Creole French voudou, from Haitian Creole vodou, from a West African language.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvu.du/
• Rhymes: -udu
• Syllabification: voo‧doo

Noun

voodoo n (indeclinable)

1. voodoo (Afro-Caribbean religion)

Further reading

• voodoo in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• voodoo in Polish dictionaries at PWN