Santeras

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Women who practice the Afro-Caribbean religion of Santería, often serving as spiritual leaders, healers, and ritual specialists within their communities
2. Female adherents of a syncretic faith blending Yoruba beliefs with Catholicism, acting as priestesses and mediators in religious ceremonies
3. Practitioners who embody the role of ritual experts and diviners in traditions combining African deities and Christian saints, typically women guiding spiritual worship and healing rituals

Etymology: "Santeras" is the plural of "santera," an unadapted borrowing from Spanish, where "santera" is the feminine form of "santero," a word built on "santo" (saint). In Spanish, the term has long described a woman who keeps and tends the images of saints, and in Caribbean and Latin American religious practice it came to name women who lead healing and worship rituals within traditions that blend African deities with Catholic saints. The English plural simply follows the Spanish pattern: the Spanish "-s" is kept, so the plural of "santera" is "santeras." Because the word was taken over without being translated or respelled, it still carries its Spanish form and its link to the saints it names, which is the core of the word's meaning.

Synonyms: priestess, shaman, healer