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angakok

American  
[ang-guh-kok] / ˈæŋ gəˌkɒk /
Or angekok

noun

  1. a shaman in Inuit society.


Etymology

Origin of angakok

First recorded in 1760–70; from Danish angekok (earlier angekkok ), from Inuit (Greenlandic, eastern Canada) angakkoq

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The first thing which the angakok or sorcerer, who visits her must do is to free her from these pests.

From Algonquin Legends of New England by Leland, Charles Godfrey

But on entering the house he looked exceedingly pale, because of the great angakok wisdom he had acquired down in the old grave.

From The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought Studies of the Activities and Influences of the Child Among Primitive Peoples, Their Analogues and Survivals in the Civilization of To-Day by Chamberlain, Alexander F.

Lastly, the ghost from the grave came out, and being called upon by the angakok, he entered the house to fetch the boy, who only perceived a strong smell of maggots, and then fainted away.

From The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought Studies of the Activities and Influences of the Child Among Primitive Peoples, Their Analogues and Survivals in the Civilization of To-Day by Chamberlain, Alexander F.

"The angakok," or sorcerer of Greenland, "after meeting with tomarsuk, or guardian spirits, sometimes manifested it by his feet sinking into the rocky ground just as if in snow."

From Algonquin Legends of New England by Leland, Charles Godfrey

The business of the angakok is mainly singing incantations and going into trances, for he has no medicines.

From The North Pole Its Discovery in 1909 under the auspices of the Peary Arctic Club by Peary, Robert E. (Robert Edwin)

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