different between voodoo vs houngan

English

Etymology

From Louisiana Creole French voudou, from Haitian Creole vodou, from a West African language, such as Ewe vód? (“deity, idol”), Fon vòdún (“fetish”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?vu?du?/

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

Translations

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

Finnish

Noun

voodoo

1. voodoo

Declension

Italian

Noun

voodoo m (invariable)

1. Alternative spelling of vudù

Adjective

voodoo (invariable)

1. Alternative spelling of vudù

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.

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.

Polish

Alternative forms

• wudu

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?vu.du/

Noun

voodoo n (indeclinable)

1. voodoo (Afro-Caribbean religion)

Further reading

• voodoo in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• voodoo in Polish dictionaries at PWN

English

Etymology

From Haitian Creole oungan, apparently from Fon houn (“spirit”) + Kongo nganga (“high priest”).

Noun

houngan (plural houngans)

1. A (male) voodoo priest.
   • 1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company 2004, p. 48:

     The shadow of the houngan, projected from within the tent by the flickering of the candle, dances and glides over the folds of the cloth as he completes his final preparations.

   • 1995, Sidney Mintz & Michel-Rolph Trouillot, in Cosentino (ed.), Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou, South Sea International Press 1998, p. 147:

     By then, estimates of the number of oungans killed in 1986-87 had reached as high as 400.

   • 2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books 2007, p. 16:

     From 1751 to 1758, Makandal, a one-armed former slave and houngan, staged a rebellion that claimed some six thousand lives.

Alternative forms

• oungan

See also

• mambo (the female equivalent)