witch doctor en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
- /ˈwɪtʃ ˌdɑktɚ/ (General-American)
- /ˈwɪtʃ ˌdɒktə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Meanings
-
A person (often male) who is believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magical powers; a shaman.
Some people are so foolish as to go to a witch-doctor when they have Cows in this complaint [prematurely parting with their unborn calves]:—they give him some money, and he tells them some frivolous tale, such as that some person that wishes them bad luck, or looks upon them with an evil eye, [...]
1820, J[ohn] C. Knowlson, “The Felon”, in The Complete Cow-leech, or Cattle-Doctor; […], Otley, Yorkshire: Printed for the author by T. F. Bristow, […], →OCLC, page 104:Review of the literature cited in the bibliography of the present paper left this author with the impression that there is indeed a very widespread institution variously labelled by Western observers with epithets such as medicine-man, shaman, witch-doctor, native healer, or with indigenous terms such as angakok (Eskimo), or mganga (Swahili).
1971, W. G. Jilek, “From Crazy Witch Doctor to Auxiliary Psychotherapist: The Changing Image of the Medicine Man”, in Psychiatria Clinica, volume 4, number 4, Basel; New York, N.Y.: S[amuel] Karger, →OCLC, abstract, page 200:[T]he ſaid Dorothy Durent, having been with a Witch-Doctor, acknowledges upon Oath, that by his Advice, ſhe hang'd up her Child's Blanket in the Chimney, found a Toad in it at Night, had put it into the Fire, and held it there tho' it made a great and horrible Noiſe, and flaſht like Gunpowder, and went off like a Piſtol, and then became inviſible, and that by this the Priſoner was ſcorch'd and burn'd lamentably.
1718, Francis Hutchinson, “The Tryal before My Lord Chief Baron Hale”, in An Historical Essay Concerning Witchcraft. […], London: Printed for R. Knaplock, […], and D. Midwinter, […], →OCLC, page 110:At that consultation, according to the habit of a witch-doctor, he divined and announced the occasion of their attendance, and indicated the complainant, Mdungazwe, as the wizard who had caused Ranise to suffer.
1893, South African Law Journal, volume 10, Cape Town: Juta & Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 219:I told the witch doctor I was in love with you / And then the witch doctor he told me what to do
1958 April 1, David Seville [pseudonym; Ross Bagdasarian Sr.], “Witch Doctor”, in The Alvin Show:In much of popular Western literature, the non-Western professional who attends to the relief of distress and alleviation of anxiety in his society is known by many names, none of them exactly respectful. He is a medicine man or a witch doctor, native healer or voodoo sorcerer—the "quack," so to speak, never the "doctor."
1982, Sudhir Kakar, “Other Shamans”, in Shamans, Mystics and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India and Its Healing Traditions, New York, N.Y.: Knopf, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Knopf, 2013, →ISBN:The man being led into the Cage did not strike me as a witchdoctor. Slim and tall, he was a middle-aged man with a fuzzy Afro which made him look even younger.
1993, Hama Tuma, The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor and Other Stories (African Writers Series), Oxford, Oxfordshire; Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, →ISBN, page 36:
- (Southern-US) A dragonfly.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| witch doctors | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| witch-doctor | alternative | lexicographic | |
| witchdoctor | alternative | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Deriveds
witch-doctoring · witch-doctory · witch-doctress
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
sadet · sangoma · mganga · obeah · dukun · curandero · ngaka
Synonyms
Translations (109)
tum muhaŵi (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pl uzdrowicielka (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pl znachor (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · tr kam (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ro vraci (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · nl sjamaan (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ram caj (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · hy հեքիմ (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · uk зна́хар (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · gl meigo (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · gl meiga (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ca guaridor (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · fr guérisseur (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · da heksedoktor (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ky эмчилик (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pl szaman (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · tr bakşı (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · xh igqirha (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · mk врачарка (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · tr büyücü (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ms dukun (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · sw mganga (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · es curandero (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · it stregona (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ar طَبِيب سَاحِر (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pt curandeira (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · it taumaturgo (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · be шама́н (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · zu isangoma (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · it sciamana (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · tr üfürükçü (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · it stregone (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · sh вра̀чара (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · es brujo (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ms pawang (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · de Hexendoktorin (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · nb heksedoktor (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · sm bonudatra (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · be зна́хар (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ro vrăjitor (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · kg nganga (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · he רוֹפֵא אֱלִיל (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ca remeier (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · cs šaman (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pl szeptunka (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pl szeptucha (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · de Medizinmann (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ru шама́н (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · tr şaman (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pl znachorka (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · nn heksedoktor (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · de Hexendoktor (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · mk врач (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · nuj omulogo class 1 (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · mi tohunga mākutu (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ja 呪術医 (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pl szeptun (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pt curandeiro (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · gl menciñeira (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · bg знахар (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ka გრძნეული (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · bg шаман (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pl szamanka (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · es hechicero (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ms bomoh (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · tn ngaka (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ka ექიმბაში (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · tl albularyo (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · vi thầy phù thuỷ (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ro șaman (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ca taumaturg (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ln nganga-nkísi (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · it sciamano (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · es curandera (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pt pajé (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · sh врач (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pl zamawiaczka (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ca adobant (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · gl menciñeiro (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · es hechicera (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ru зна́харь (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ny sing'anga (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · gl bieiteira (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pt xamã (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · es nahual (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · fi noitatohtori (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · sh vràčara (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pl zamawiacz (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · uk шама́н (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · sh vrȃč (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · it taumaturga (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · eo ŝamano (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · gl curandeiro (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · vi thầy mo (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ca xaman (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · tr Camanbay (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · fi poppamies (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · es bruja (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · sv häxdoktor (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · fr guérisseuse (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ko 주술사 (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · pl uzdrowiciel (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · de Medizinfrau (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · id dukun santet (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · cmn 巫醫 /巫医 (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · is galdralæknir (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · qu jampiri (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · tr otacı (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic) · ka ჯადოქარი (person believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magic)