obeah
/ˈəʊbɪə/ noun, verb
Forms obeahs obeahing obeahed obe obea obi obia oby
- noun A form of folk magic, medicine or witchcraft originating in Africa and practised in parts of the Caribbean.
- noun A magician or witch doctor of the magic craft.
- noun A spell performed in the practice of the magic craft; an item associated with such a spell.
- verb (transitive) To bewitch using this kind of folk magic.
Synonyms
mage shaman spellcaster archmage archmagician bewitcher charmer conjurer illusionist Karcist magic user magus sortileger spellbinder spellmaker thaumaturge theurgist whizz whiz witch doctor obi
Etymology
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”). Cognate of Aukan obiya, Saramaccan obia, and Sranan Tongo obia.
Webster’s 1913
- Same as Obi.
- Of or pertaining to obi; as, the obeah man. B. Edwards.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “obeah”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details