hounsi

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Haitian Creole, from Fon.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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hounsi (plural hounsis)

  1. A voodoo initiate; a helper for a houngan or mambo.
    • 1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company, published 2004, page 48:
      At the entrance to the tent, the hounsis stretch out upon the mats.
    • 1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 48:
      Each hounsis remained anonymous, focused inward and turned away from the audience toward the poteau mitan and the drums.
    • 1995, Karen McCarthy Brown, in Cosentino (ed.), Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou, South Sea International Press 1998, p. 214:
      In both Rada and Petwo modes of ritualizing, it is customary for ounsis to show respect to priests and priestesses through such ritual salutations.