Voodoo

[ voo-doo ]

noun

, plural Voo·doos.

1. Sometimes Vo·doun. a fusion of Afro-Caribbean Vodou and folk magic practiced chiefly in Louisiana, deriving ultimately from West African Vodun and containing elements borrowed from the Roman Catholic religion. Compare Hoodoo ( def 1 ), Santería, Vodun, Vodou ( def ).
2. a person who practices this religion.
3. a fetish or other object of Voodoo worship.
4. a group of magical and ecstatic rites associated with Voodoo.
5. voodoo. Sometimes Offensive. (loosely) black magic; sorcery.

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, associated with, or practicing Voodoo.
2. voodoo. Informal: Sometimes Offensive. characterized by deceptively simple, almost as if magical, solutions or ideas:

   voodoo economics.

verb (used with object)

, Voo·dooed, Voo·doo·ing.

1. to affect by Voodoo magic.

voodoo

/ ˈvuːduː /

noun

1. Also calledvoodooism a religious cult involving witchcraft and communication by trance with ancestors and animistic deities, common in Haiti and other Caribbean islands
2. a person who practises voodoo
3. a charm, spell, or fetish involved in voodoo worship and ritual

adjective

1. relating to or associated with voodoo

verb

1. tr to affect by or as if by the power of voodoo

voodoo

1. A form of animism (see also animism ) involving trances and other rituals. Communication with the dead is a principal feature of voodoo. It is most common in the nations of the Caribbean Sea , especially Haiti , where people sometimes mingle voodoo and Christian practices.

Sensitive Note

The history of slavery in the Caribbean brought religious practices from enslaved West Africans into contact with the Roman Catholicism in French and Spanish colonies, and resulted in distinct New World religions like Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo. For some time, the most common name in English for these related religious traditions was Voodoo. Today the capitalized proper noun Voodoo is used only for the religion as practiced in Louisiana. The spelling Voodoo is considered offensive in naming religious practice outside of Louisiana, as in Haiti and Cuba, where the proper names are Vodou and Vodú, respectively. However, as the widely recognized term, Voodoo was also the one appropriated by popular culture to describe a number of practices poorly understood or purposefully exoticized by those outside of the religious community. Spiritual practices involving charmed objects loosely inspired the so-called “voodoo doll,” though no such practice of stabbing an effigy with pins is attested in the practice of Voodoo or Hoodoo. In Vodou, the “zombie” is a living but soulless individual whose free will has been taken by a powerful sorcerer or bocor, not the risen dead monster depicted in films, books, and video games. Ultimately, use of the word voodoo is complicated by widespread familiarity with the appropriated, secular, pop culture mythology of the entertainment industry—a mythology that poorly represents or directly conflicts with the authentic religious and historical core of Voodoo and related spiritual traditions such as Vodun, Vodou, and Hoodoo.

Derived Forms

• ˌvoodooˈistic, adjective
• ˈvoodooist, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Voodoo¹

An Americanism dating back to 1810–20; from Louisiana French, earlier vandoux, vandoo, from a West African source perhaps akin to Fon vodũ “spirit,” or Ewe vodu “tutelary deity, demon”

Word History and Origins

Origin of Voodoo¹

C19: from Louisiana French voudou, ultimately of West African origin; compare Ewe vodu guardian spirit

Example Sentences

Leal’s contribution to the menu is a strawberry twist on the French 75 inspired by Marie Laveau, a voodoo herbalist and healer from New Orleans.

From Salon

He started taking his music seriously in the 1990s, around when he joined Natural Elements, a local underground group that also touted Mr. Voodoo among its members.

From Los Angeles Times

D’Angelo’s “Brown Sugar” and “Voodoo” are two of my favorite records.

From Los Angeles Times

“It is absolutely Middle Ages voodoo,” Ofshe said.

From Los Angeles Times

Witchdoctor, “A S.W.A.T. Healin’ Ritual,” a one-of-a-kind blend of Afrocentrism, voodoo imagery, unflinching street reality, off-kilter flows and skittering beats reminiscent of British drum-and-bass music.

From New York Times

Related Words

• witchcraft