Word journey
The word voodoo
spirit; the African and Afro-Caribbean religions of the vodun
The journey
| Form | Language | Date | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| vodún | Fon · West African Vodun | 1658 CE | spirit, deity (Doctrina Christiana) |
| Vodou | Haitian Creole · Haitian Vodou | 1797 CE | a dance, and an all-powerful supernatural being, recorded as Vaudoux in Saint-Domingue by Moreau de Saint-Méry (1797); later the religion |
| voudou | Louisiana French · Haitian Vodou | undated | Louisiana Voodoo practice (date of record not given) |
| voodoo | English (United States) | 1815 CE | occult practice; worship of an African deity |
What is certain and what is not
From the Gbe languages (Fon vodun, Ewe vodu), "spirit, deity". The colonial Saint-Domingue form Vaudoux is recorded in 1797 (TLFi); the Louisiana French form is not dated in the sources used (Dictionary.com notes earlier Louisiana spellings vandoux and vandoo). Practitioners and scholars now prefer Vodou for the Haitian religion.