juju
[joo-joo]
- an object venerated superstitiously and used as a fetish or amulet by tribal peoples of West Africa.
- the magical power attributed to such an object.
- a ban or interdiction effected by it.
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Origin of juju
1890–95; allegedly < Hausa jūjū fetish
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for juju
Contemporary Examples
Good Morning America anchor Juju Chang asked Smart how she had found the courage to testify against her captor Mitchell.
Juju Chang is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and news anchor for Good Morning America .
Juju Chang, Deborah Roberts and Elizabeth Vargas report, while John Stossel apparently gets the hell outta there.
Historical Examples
Answer that it is I, Juju, and you will be speaking the truth.
Juliette Drouet's Love-Letters to Victor HugoLouis Guimbaud
But who in all the Dogon had ever witnessed such a juju man?
Black Man's BurdenDallas McCord Reynolds
The juju will be angry; he will not let us, he will kill us.
The White Queen of OkoyongW.P. Livingstone
On a little island was a hut, guarded by priests, in which the juju was supposed to live.
The White Queen of OkoyongW.P. Livingstone
They were found buried and covered with blood, some of them having been used amongst the apparatus of their Juju sacrifices.
Antique Works of Art from BeninAugustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers
juju
- an object superstitiously revered by certain W African peoples and used as a charm or fetish
- the power associated with a juju
- a taboo effected by a juju
- any process in which a mystery is exploited to confuse people
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Word Origin
C19: probably from Hausa djudju evil spirit, fetish
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for juju
n.2
"marijuana cigarette," 1940, supposedly from reduplicated middle syllable of marijuana.
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n.1
object of religious veneration among West Africans, 1860, supposedly ultimately from French joujou "toy, plaything."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper