orpeko
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Maasai orpeko, from Swahili upepo (“spirit, wind”).
Noun edit
orpeko (uncountable)
- (East Africa) A form of spirit possession or spiritual sickness among Maasai people, especially women.
- 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 965:
- It turned out that the only sure-fire permanent cure for orpeko was Christian baptism.
- 2001, Dorothy L. Hodgson, Once Intrepid Warriors, page 260:
- Orpeko is vividly perceived by Maasai men and women as an outside force that has entered and disrupted their lives.
- 2008, New Encyclopedia of Africa, volume IV:
- Others, such as orpeko among the Maasai people of Tanzania, are relatively recent phenomena that originated with foreign contacts.