macumba

American

[muh-koom-buh] / məˈkʊm bə /

noun

a Brazilian cult incorporating the use of fetishes and sorcery and deriving largely from African practices.

Macumba British

/ maˈkumba /

noun

a religious cult in Brazil that combines Christian and voodoo elements

"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

Etymology

Origin of macumba

Borrowed into English from Portuguese around 1935–40

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.

“Nobody wants macumba here,” one of them told Figueiredo, using an ethnic slur, according to testimony he provided to authorities.

From Washington Post

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023