hoodoo
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Hausa, hu'du'ba/hu3'du3'ba1 (“to arouse resentment”). In English, meaning altered to “bring bad luck”, then applied to things thought to bring bad luck, including the thin spires of rock now called hoodoos.
Previously incorrectly analyzed as alteration of voodoo, which is of different origin.
[edit] Noun
hoodoo (plural hoodoos)
- African traditional folk magic.
- (geology) A tall thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of arid basins and badlands.
- Something or someone believed to bring bad luck.
[edit] Verb
hoodoo (third-person singular simple present hoodoos, present participle hoodooing, simple past and past participle hoodooed)
- To bring bad luck or misfortune, to jinx.
[edit] References
- “hoodoo”, Bill Casselman
