West African tribes
Preserved but no longer current.
Its worship was carried to the West Indies with the slave trade, and still somewhat covertly flourishes in Voodoo ceremonies m Haiti and some of the Southern States of the U.S.A. The word zombie is commonly applied to an alleged dead body brought by Voodoo magic to life in a more or less cataleptic or automaton state.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “West African tribes” mean?
Its worship was carried to the West Indies with the slave trade, and still somewhat covertly flourishes in Voodoo ceremonies m Haiti and some of the Southern States of the U.S.A. The word zombie is commonly applied to an alleged dead body brought by Voodoo magic to life in a more or less cataleptic or automaton state.
Is “West African tribes” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.