Santería

or San·te·ri·a

[ sahn-tuh-ree-uh ]

noun

1. (sometimes lowercase) a religion merging the worship of Yoruba deities with veneration of Roman Catholic saints: practiced in Cuba and spread to other parts of the Caribbean and to the United States by Cuban emigrés.

Santeria

/ ˌsæntəˈrɪə /

noun

1. a Caribbean religion composed of elements from both traditional African religion and Roman Catholicism

Word History and Origins

Origin of Santería¹

First recorded in 1980–85; from Latin American Spanish, equivalent to santer(o) “person practicing Santería” ( Spanish sant(o) saint + -ero, from Latin -ārius -ary ) + -ía -ia

Word History and Origins

Origin of Santería¹

American Spanish, literally: holiness

Example Sentences

In a profile in The Daily News after the album’s release, the columnist Pete Hamill singled out one track, “Under the Moon and Over the Sky” — one of four songs on the album that Ms. Bofill wrote or co-wrote — as “a city dream: lyrical and defiant, with the congas rolling through the middle, and the sounds of Santeria add a thread of the unearthly.”

From New York Times

Santeria devotees dance and slap drums in a museum filled with statues, paying homage to their Afro-Cuban deities.

From Seattle Times

Experts estimate that as many, or more, also follow Afro-Cuban traditions such as Santeria that intermingle with Catholicism.

From Seattle Times

Santería was born as a form of quiet resistance among Cuba’s Black communities.

From Seattle Times

Santeria long remained on the political margins due to its scattered, nonhierarchical nature and centuries of taboo and racism.

From Seattle Times