santería

See also: santeria

English

Alternative forms

• santeria, Santería

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish santería (“saintishness, saintery”).

Noun

santería (uncountable)

1. An Afro-Cuban religion, somewhat similar to voodoo, based upon Yoruba deities and Roman Catholic saints.
   • 2007, Paul Allatson, Key Terms in Latino/a: Cultural and Literary Studies, page 209:

     Santería is the name for an Afro-Cuban religious and belief system with origins in the slave era. The survival of santería over many centuries required adherents to conduct their ceremonies and rituals away from the gaze of European slave owners and the Catholic Church.

   • 2008, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft, and Wicca, page 311:

     Although all worshipers of Santería could be called Santeros, the term usually refers to the priests or priestesses.

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 713:

     Santería is probably the variety of these syncretist religions closest to Catholicism, so that in Cuban Catholicism it is difficult to separate much Catholic practice in the parish churches from Santería, and it is really impossible to put statistics on the number of its practitioners, so all-pervasive is its influence.

   • 2010, Vek Lewis, Crossing Sex and Gender in Latin America, page 119:

     Denied her sex by biology, Sandra finds the powers of spiritual transformation in gender in santería, a transcultural religious practice with Catholic elements.

   • 2010, Pedro C. López, Pandemic of Lies: The Exile, page 248:

     Anyway, getting back to the proof of the pudding, I'm sure you will admit that there is something about the supernatural world, in which I include voodoo and santería.

Coordinate terms

• (religions) religion; agnosticism,‎ Asatru,‎ atheism,‎ Ayyavazhi,‎ Baháʼí Faith,‎ Bon,‎ Buddhism,‎ Cao Dai,‎ Cheondoism,‎ Christianity,‎ deism,‎ Druidry,‎ Druze,‎ Eckankar,‎ Heathenry,‎ Hinduism,‎ Islam,‎ Jainism,‎ Jediism,‎ Judaism,‎ Kimbanguism,‎ Odinism,‎ paganism,‎ Pastafarianism,‎ Raëlism,‎ Rastafarianism,‎ Rodnovery,‎ Romuva,‎ Samaritanism,‎ Sanamahism,‎ Shinto,‎ Sikhism,‎ Taoism,‎ Tengrism,‎ Thelema,‎ Unitarian Universalism,‎ Wicca,‎ Yahwism,‎ Yazidism,‎ Yoruba,‎ Zoroastrianism ^{(Category: en:Religion) [edit]}

Anagrams

• Erastian, antisera, arsinate, artesian, ratanies, resinata

Spanish

Etymology

From santero +‎ -ía.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /santeˈɾia/ [sãn̪.t̪eˈɾi.a]
• Rhymes: -ia
• Syllabification: san‧te‧rí‧a

Noun

santería f (plural santerías)

1. santería
2. witchcraft

Related terms

• santero

 

Further reading

• “santería”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10