Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A male voodoo priest in Haiti.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word houngan.

Examples

  • "A male priest is called a houngan," Mae said, "and in order to become one, a man must communicate with spirits in the presence of another houngan.

    Mission Of Honor Clancy, Tom 2002

  • Since the epidemic started in mid-October, at least 45 male and female voodoo priests, known respectively as "houngan" and "manbo," have been killed.

    Reuters: Top News 2010

  • Since the epidemic started in mid-October, at least 45 male and female voodoo priests, known respectively as "houngan" and "manbo," have been killed.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2010

  • Since the epidemic started in mid-October, at least 45 male and female voodoo priests, known respectively as "houngan" and "manbo," have been killed.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2010

  • Since the epidemic started in mid-October, at least 45 male and female voodoo priests, known respectively as "houngan" and "manbo," have been killed.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2010

  • Since the epidemic started in mid-October, at least 45 male and female voodoo priests, known respectively as "houngan" and "manbo," have been killed.

    Thestar.com - Home Page Joseph Guyler Delva 2010

  • The story goes that a houngan voodoo priest named Dutty Boukman held a meeting of black slaves and runaways at Bois Caïman in the mountains of the north to prepare to rise up against their oppressors.

    What's this "deal with the devil" that Pat Robertson was talking about? Nomad 2010

  • But we drifted near the village of a houngan who had gone bad, and he brought us back as zombies . . . who were still vampires.

    Making Light: Rowling's being sued for plagiarism again 2010

  • I agree that it's uncool to joke about Sheldon Brown being dead and reanimated by some houngan.

    Round and Round: Wheel in the Sky Keeps On Failing BikeSnobNYC 2009

  • Â Twin brother Daniel, however, grew up in the faith, becoming the local houngan of their hometown, while Jericho went to the United States to become a psychologist and physician.

    Review: Doctor Voodoo #1 | Major Spoilers - Comic Book Reviews and News 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "Samba Boukman, one of the revolution's first leaders, was himself a houngan (Vodou priest) guided by a loa (spirit) of African derivation."

    —Barbara Ehrenreich, Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006), 172

    March 16, 2009

  • "'...He was a houngan, though.'

    'A what?'

    'Houngan is what the blacks call one of their medicine-priests, though to be quite right about it, I believe Ishmael said his sort of black called him an oniseegun, or somesuch.'"

    —Diana Gabaldon, Voyager (NY: Dell, 1994), 968

    January 17, 2010