medicine man
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English
Etymology
Probably a calque of Ojibwe mashkikiiwinini (“doctor”), from mashkiki (“medicine”) + inini (“man”).
Noun
medicine man (plural medicine men)
- A Native American shamanistic healer.
- Near-synonym: shaman
- 1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha, section XIV:
- And the Jossakeeds, the Prophets,
The Wabenos, the Magicians,
And the Medicine-men, the Medas,
Painted upon bark and deer-skin
Figures for the songs they chanted
- 1891, W. Fletcher Johnson, Life of Sitting Bull and History of the Indian War of 1890-’91, Edgewood Publishing Co., page 41:
- Sitting Bull is commonly thought of as a warrior. In point of fact he was not. He was a “medicine man;” which means that he included within himself the three professions of the priesthood, medicine and law.
- A traditional healer among other indigenous or ancient peoples.
- 1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 254:
- When, however, the plant spirits were not strong enough in themselves, then the family called in the Medicine Man. He appeared, a "monster of so frightful mien", with noise making apparatus which produced such a terrifying din that even the hardiest demon was likely to flee.
- 1943, H. Lorna Bingham, The Lost Tribe, Sydney: Winn and Co., page 11, column 1:
- "I'm sorry kiddies," he said, "but I haven't very much faith in Medicine Men."
- 1958, Chinua Achebe, chapter 9, in Things Fall Apart, New York: Astor-Honor, published 1959:
- After the death of Ekwefi's second child, Okonkwo had gone to a medicine man, who was also a diviner of the Afa Oracle, to enquire what was amiss.
Coordinate terms
Related terms
Translations
shamanistic healer
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