different between obea vs obeah

English

Noun

obea

1. Alternative form of obeah

Anagrams

• boae, boæ

Taikat

Noun

obea

1. water

Further reading

• C. L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics), page 112

English

Alternative forms

• obe, obea, obi, obia, oby

Etymology

Origin uncertain; apparently from a Caribbean creole, probably ultimately from a West African language. The Oxford English Dictionary points to Igbo abià (“knowledge, wisdom”), obìa (“doctor, healer”).

Pronunciation

• (Caribbean) IPA^(key): /?obia/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???b??/
• Hyphenation: o?be?ah

Noun

obeah (countable and uncountable, plural obeahs)

1. A form of folk magic, medicine or witchcraft originating in Africa and practised in parts of the Caribbean.
2. A magician or witch doctor of the magic craft.
3. A spell performed in the practice of the magic craft; an item associated with such a spell.

Verb

obeah (third-person singular simple present obeahs, present participle obeahing, simple past and past participle obeahed)

1. (transitive) To bewitch using this kind of folk magic.
   • 1906 December – 1907 May, Isabella S. Abel, “The Obeah-man”, in The Windsor Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly for Men and Women, volume XXV, London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited Warwick House, Salisbury Square, E.C., published 1907, OCLC 224679211, page 392:

     A poor old woman who thinks she has been Obeahed lies ill in an isolated hut on the short cut to New Castle. I discovered her while out shooting, and promised to send her medical aid. Her case is pressing.

References

Anagrams

• bohea