Vodun

American  

[voh-duhn] / voʊˈdʌn /

noun

1. a polytheistic religion practiced chiefly in coastal West Africa, the practice of which includes worship of spirits tied to the natural world or embodied in fetish objects of worship, and a belief that ancestral spirits share the physical world along with the living.

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Etymology

Origin of Vodun

First recorded in 1935–40; from Haitian Creole see origin at Voodoo

Example Sentences

Six months after getting her citizenship, Ciara returned to Benin in January to play at the Vodun Days festival.

From BBC • Feb. 6, 2026

His art draws on his Afro-Dominican American identity, as well as on a religious upbringing that incorporated Catholicism, Evangelical Christianity, Vodun, Santeria and Afro-Caribbean spiritual practices.

From New York Times • Sep. 7, 2022

One thing that mingled distinctively in the Caribbean is religion, yielding such African-European hybrids as Vodun, Santeria and Rastafari.

From Washington Post • Jun. 28, 2022

When possible, they adhered to traditional ways, following spiritual leaders such as Vodun priests.

From Textbooks • Dec. 30, 2014

Vodun adherents regard pythons as manifestations of the serpent god Dangbe.

From New York Times • Feb. 3, 2012