orenda

English

Etymology

Supposedly coined in 1902 by American ethnologist John Napoleon Brinton Hewitt using a Wyandot (Iroquoian) cognate to Mohawk orę́·naʔ (“inherent power”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔˈɹɛn.də/, /oʊˈɹɛn.də/
• Rhymes: -ɛndə

Noun

orenda (uncountable)

1. A mystical power thought by the Iroquois to pervade all things.
   • 1920, George Willis Cooke, The Social Evolution of Religion:

     In the Handbook of American Indians, Alice Fletcher describes the Iroquois conception of orenda as "a fictive force, principle, or magic power"

See also

• mana, wakan

Anagrams

• Ednora, adreno-, radeon