houngan

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
11
Words With Friends
14
Letters
7
Pronunciation
/ˈ(h)uŋ.ɡən/
See all 2 pronunciations
/ˈ(h)uŋ.ɡən/ · /-ɡæn/

Definition of houngan

1 sense · 1 part of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. A (male) voodoo priest.
    “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.”
    “By then, estimates of the number of oungans killed in 1986-87 had reached as high as 400.”
    “From 1751 to 1758, Makandal, a one-armed former slave and houngan, staged a rebellion that claimed some six thousand lives.”
    “Most voodoo priests, known as houngans, operate semi-independently, catering to their followers without much structure.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

Etymology tree Fon houn Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀gàngà Kongo nganga Haitian Creole ounganbor. English houngan From Haitian Creole oungan, apparently from Fon houn (“spirit”) + Kongo nganga (“high priest”).

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

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