gris-gris
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editUnknown. Compare juju (“a fetish or charm”); compare also Mande gerregery or Mandingo gregory, an amulet or curse-object.[1]
Noun
edit- An African, or Afro-American, charm or talisman.
- 1865, David Livingstone, Charles Livingstone, Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries:
- A horn, or rude image, is sometimes made use of as a means of preserving the medicines of defense, and is worn as an amulet. These images, horns, or other articles, called greegrees, or jeujeus, are not held sacred for a moment after the medicine is found to have lost its power […].
- 2008, Ned Sublette, The World That Made New Orleans, Lawrence Hill Books, published 2009, page 61:
- The Bambara were not Muslim, but they knew how to make gris-gris.
Translations
editSee also
edit- gris-gris on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- conjuration
- conjure (noun)
- hoodoo
References
edit- ^ Jeffery Elton Anderson (2002) Conjure in African-American Society, PhD dissertation, University of Florida
French
editPronunciation
editAudio: (file)
Noun
editgris-gris m (plural gris-gris)
- Alternative spelling of grigri (“A spell; an evil spirit”)
- 2014, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Tram 83:
- Selon les colportages du Tram 83, toutes les femmes de la Ville-Pays se servaient sauvagement des gris-gris pour alpaguer leur proie.
- According to the rumours at Tram 83, all the women in the City-State made aggressive use of charms to ensnare their prey.
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