Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of numerous deified ancestral spirits of the Pueblo peoples, believed to reside in the pueblo for part of each year.
- n. A masked dancer believed to embody a particular spirit during a religious ceremony.
- n. A carved doll in the costume of a particular spirit, usually presented as a gift to a child.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Same as katcina.
Wiktionary
- n. A vaguely ancestral anthropomorphic spirit being, associated with clouds and rain or personifying the power in the sun, the earth, or corn (among other things).
- n. A wooden doll, as might be given to a child, which represents such a being.
- n. A masked dancer who represents such a being in a ceremonial dance or masked ceremony.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a carved doll wearing the costume of a particular Pueblo spirit; usually presented to a child as a gift
- n. a deified spirit of the Pueblo people
- n. a masked dancer during a Pueblo religious ceremony who is thought to embody some particular spirit
Etymologies
- From Hopi qatsina. (Wiktionary)
- Hopi katsina, supernatural being, masked impersonator of a supernatural being. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The word kachina is a little confusing since it refers to the dolls, which have no power.”
“Phoenix's character chooses to live life in the Nevada desert as a hermit making Navajo kachina dolls that he believes have magical powers (a kachina is a spirit in western Pueblo cosmology and religious practices).”
“ka", part of the word kachina, the Hopi spirits, of which Masau'u was one.”
“In fact, the owner had requested a kachina tiger sculpture—something he had never done before.”
“The house contains the largest collection of Maloof furniture anywhere, as well as the Maloof's collection of pottery, rugs, blankets, art, toys, kachina dolls, masks and contemporary art.”
“My one inspirational object on my desk is probably my kachina doll.”
“The forms remind me of kachina dolls, the movement of a walking ape, of beings part human, part animal.”
“The primary Homolovi interpretive resources consists of archaeological sites including four major pueblos, numerous smaller structures, and site features ranging in size from one room pit houses or simple artifact scatters to a 1200 room pueblo, and panels of petroglyphs with depictions of kachina and clan symbols.”
“In his masterly reworking of this powerful myth, Hillerman creates a kachina for contemporary times -- a hermit who lives in a cave at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and dispenses diamonds ( '' the symbol of greed, '' according to one wary recipient) that can corrupt anyone who mistakes their cold glitter for true light.”
Skeleton Man: Summary and book reviews of Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman.
“I close with this kachina, who shows the adaptability of Zuni religion.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘kachina’.
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Visuals
A list of words which yield surprising, beautiful, amusing, or otherwise noteworthy images here on Wordnik.
photochrom, fufluns, thank you, cool l..., postcard, picture postcard, cricket, physiological ill..., Gakuryū Ishii, ametropia, One Froggy Evening, rhodopsin, Santiago Calatrava and 636 more...
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250 More Spelling Words
More words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
melisma, dioecious, jejunity, sialogogue, zingiber, zendik, dithyramb, pneuma, kachina, agiotage, baedeker, sabulous and 238 more...
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Mythical Beings
mermaid, manticore, fairy, brownie, dwarf, elf, leprechaun, selkie, gremlin, puck, pixie, genie and 97 more...
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Hopi, Tewa and Zuni words
poems in a word - another form of haikus
u'pik'ayap'ona, kwayinanne, shilhnanne, u'ky'ahayan el'a, xayeh, wenima, kuaua, kimo, tesuque, tso'ya, shalako, apilhalu and 116 more...
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Underworld
Don DeLillo
roily, reverie, slidy, bandido, mohair, brilliantine, stupe, juke step, jowly, juke, wicket, quidbit and 391 more...
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Words I should know
Words found in vocabulary lists that I don't really know or haven't heard before. Removed when I see them in a sentence somewhere. Moved to "Words I've learned just now" if I didn't recognize it ...
moiety, abrogate, abstemious, acumen, bowdlerize, enervate, expurgate, gauche, hegemony, inculcate, jejune, quasar and 45 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (K)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
katydid, keen, kid gloves, killdeer, kiln, kilt, kindle, kingfisher, kirtle, kite, knight, knoll and 16 more...
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Othernessence
Odd or mysterious beings.
Also check out the automachine list by drusky.ancients, elemental, familiar, cryptid, muse, otherkin, golem, interdimentional, lynx, ghost in the machine, gaia hypothesis, rods and 58 more...
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Dancer Dancer
ballerina, prima ballerina, hoofer, stepper, kachina, chorine, danseuse, danseur, danseur noble, premier danseur, salsero, danceress and 20 more...
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Valley of the Dolls
Not the movie.
doll, kewpie, barbie, kachina, kokeshi, chatty cathy, blythe, golliwog, hakata ningy�?, bratz, voodoo doll, worry doll and 15 more...
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my words
ubiquitous, devout, dyslexia, suave, debonair, finagle, plush, accede, prodigy, persona, lethargic, caricature and 84 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for kachina.
fbharjo spirit of the invisible forces of life (Hopi) Sep 26, 2010