macumba

Borrowed from Portuguese macumba (“macumba; curse”), derived from Kimbundu makôba (or a related Bantu language of western Central Africa).

• enPR: mä-kŭɴ(m)′bə
• Hyphenation: ma‧cum‧ba

macumba (plural macumbas)

1. (religion) A type of Afro-Brazilian folk religion combining elements of Roman Catholicism with traditional African religious beliefs and practices; or a specific cult or ceremony of such religion. [from 20th c.]
   • 1988, Jorge Amado, translated by Gregory Rabassa, Captains of the Sands, Penguin, published 2013, page 79:

     And later on at the Gantóis macumba, Omolu, bedecked in red, had said that the day of vengeance for the poor would not be long in coming.

Unadapted borrowing from Portuguese macumba.

• IPA^(key): /ma.kum.ba/
• Hyphenation: ma‧cum‧ba

macumba f (plural macumbas)

1. macumba (a type of Afro-Brazilian folk religion, or a specific cult or ceremony of such religion)

Unadapted borrowing from Portuguese macumba.

• IPA^(key): /maˈkum.ba/
• Rhymes: -umba
• Hyphenation: ma‧cùm‧ba

macumba f (plural macumbe)

1. macumba
2. (figuratively) hex, spell

   Synonyms: fattura, malocchio

Unadapted borrowing from Portuguese macumba.

• IPA^(key): /maˈkum.ba/
• Rhymes: -umba
• Syllabification: ma‧kum‧ba

macumba f

1. (religion, colloquial) alternative spelling of makumba (“macumba”)

• Woliński, Marcin; Saloni, Zygmunt; Wołosz, Robert; Gruszczyński, Włodzimierz; Skowrońska, Danuta; Bronk, Zbigniew (2020), “macumba”, in Słownik gramatyczny języka polskiego [Grammatical Dictionary of Polish]‎^[1], 4. online edition, Warszawa
• “macumba”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)

Borrowed from Kimbundu makôba.

• Rhymes: -ũbɐ

macumba f (plural macumbas)

1. a percussive musical instrument of African origin often used in traditional rituals
2. any Afro-Brazilian religion, especially but not limited to Candomblé, Quimbanda, and Umbanda, so named after their use of the macumba and other African instruments
3. (Brazil, by extension) a curse or hex, a malevolent spell, especially one performed in the context of Afro-Brazilian religions

   Synonym: maldição

4. (Brazil, by extension) any spell or act of sorcery, especially one performed in the context of Afro-Brazilian religions for the benefit of someone

   Synonyms: feitiço, mandinga

5. (Brazil, by extension) offerings to the entities worshiped in those religions, often for the realization of a spell

   Synonym: despacho

• Umbanda
• Quimbanda
• Candomblé

• macumbeiro
• chuta que é macumba

• “macumba”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “macumba”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026