| 释义 |
‖ obeah, obi|ˈəʊbiːə, ˈəʊbɪ|
Also 8 obia, 9 obea, obeeyah.
[A West Africa word: cf. Efik ubio, ‘a thing, or mixture of things, put in the ground, as a charm to cause sickness or death; the Obeah of the West Indies’ (Goldie Dict. of Efik 1874). With the senses cf. those of juju. ‘Also the base of Twi ɔ-bayifó, witch, wizard, sorcerer (more literally sorcery-man, ‘obeah-man’, since -fó means person).’ (Cassidy & Le Page Dict. Jamaican Eng. 1967).]
1. An amulet, charm, or fetish used by Negroes for magical purposes.
1796Stedman Surinam II. xx. 89 A superstitious obia or amulet tied about his neck. Ibid. (1813) II. xxix. 360 To whom he sells his obias or amulets, in order to make them invulnerable.
2. A kind of pretended sorcery or witchcraft practised by the Negroes in Africa, a form of which survives in the West Indies and neighbouring countries.
1760Jrnls. Assembly Jamaica 16 Dec. (1798) V. 245/1 The engrossed bill to remedy the evils arising from irregular assemblies of slaves..and for preventing the practice of obeah. 1764Grainger Sugar Cane iv. 381 In Obia, all the sons of sable Afric trust. 1802M. Edgeworth Grateful Negro (1832) 246 note, Strict investigation..has..been made after the professors of Obi. a1818M. G. Lewis Jrnl. W. Ind. (1834) 94 The belief in Obeah is now greatly weakened. 1823T. Roughley Jamaica Planter's Guide ii. 83 Perhaps the horrid and abominable practice of Obea is carried on, dismembering and disabling one another. 1889H. J. Bell Obeah; Witchcraft in W. Indies i. 9 Before the emancipation..the practice of Obeah was rampant in all the West Indian Colonies. 1889Pall Mall G., The awful mysteries of Obeeyah (vulgo Obi) and the powers possessed by the Obeeyah women of those days, were sufficiently known to all the slave-traders of the West Coast. 1930J. J. Williams Hebrewisms W. Afr. 17 The word Obeah itself is really the Ashanti Obayifo, a witch or rather more properly,..a wizard, being derived from bayi, sorcery. 1934J. Rhys Voy. in Dark iii. iv. 192 Anne Chewett used to say that it's haunted and obeah—she had been in gaol for obeah. 1934Times Lit. Suppl. 19 July 502/4 On the subject of obia (which a Jamaican negro will never mention) they are quite unreserved. 1954Caribbean Q. III. i. 5 Obeah has been prohibited by law, and is always spoken of with a laugh; but the laughter is..never sneering. 1957Times Lit. Suppl. 2 May 237/3 You have also to reckon with obeah (in the shape of a mongrel puppy) with the other candidate Preacher, who wickedly distorts the slogan ‘Vote Harbans or Die’. 1963G. J. McCall in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 420/1 ‘Hoodoo’..corresponding to vodun (‘voodoo’) and obeah in Haiti.
3. attrib. and Comb., as obeah (or obi) -man, obeah-woman, one who practises obeah, a Negro sorcerer or sorceress.
1764Grainger Sugar Cane iv. 370 note, The negro-conjurers or obia-men as they are called. a1818M. G. Lewis Jrnl. W. Ind. (1834) 237 Adam, the reputed Obeah-man. 1840Marryat Poor Jack xli, She..had always been considered as an Obi woman. 1886Grant Allen In all Shades xxviii. (1887) 200 His mouldy obeah mummery of loose alligators' teeth and..little human knuckle-bones. 1917Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 248/1 No treasure was found, and the Obeahman had disappeared just when he was most wanted to counsel and guide. 1934J. Rhys Voy. in Dark iii. iv. 192 Obeah-women who dig up dead people. 1970J. Brown Un-Melting Pot vii. 99 Though St Lucia is 92 per cent Catholic,..obeah beliefs and practices still pervade its whole fabric of life. 1973Sunday Express (Trinidad & Tobago) 1 Apr. (Suppl.) 12/2 Sometimes they would visit Rattan, the famed obeah man..and ask him to cast a good spell on them. 1974Practitioner Dec. 848 An Obeahman or Obeahwoman may also be consulted about social matters, including a child's education.
Hence ˈobeah, ˈobi, v. trans., to bewitch by obeah, put under a spell; ˈobeahism (obeoism, obeism, obiism), the practice of or belief in obeah.
a1818M. G. Lewis Jrnl. W. Ind. (1834) 134 Edward had Obeahed him. 1836E. Howard R. Reefer xlviii, Such superstitious nonsense as Obeoism. 1866Beckford Davis in Rep. R. Comm. Jamaica 521 Obeahism..is the art of poisoning, combined with the art of imposing upon the credulity of ignorant people by a pretence of witchcraft. 1874Sir S. D. Scott To Jamaica xiii. 231 Belief in witchcraft, under the name of Obeism and Myalism. 1895H. J. Bell in Stoddart Cruising Caribbees xi. 89 ‘Missis, I'm Obeahed, I know I'll go dead’. 1902Chambers's Jrnl. Feb. 82/1 The vitality of obeahism is surprising. 1949Caribbean Q. I. ii. 45 Mr. Waugh manages to feature an immigrant London crooner..and an obeahed French colonial official, in his treatment of..St. Lucia, Dominica, and Martinique. 1972Guardian 6 Dec. 13/1 Obeahism, the Jamaican form of voodooism..that originated in Haiti. |