Meaning

noun (West Indies) followers of a religious system involving witchcraft and sorcery

noun a religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery; practiced in parts of the West Indies and tropical Americas

originUncertain; apparently from a Caribbean creole, probably ultimately from a West African language. The Oxford English Dictionary points to Igbo abià (“knowledge, wisdom”), obìa (“doctor, healer”). Cognate of Aukan obiya, Saramaccan obia, and Sranan Tongo obia.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0