potomitan
potomitan noun: a sacramental post or pillar in the middle of the peristyle in front of a voodoo temple, used as the focus of certain rituals.
Noun
potomitan (plural potomitans)
- A sacramental post or pillar in the middle of the peristyle in front of a voodoo temple, used as the focus of certain rituals.
- Around this poteau-mitan revolve the ritual movements and the dance; at its base the offerings are placed; and through it the loa enter the peristyle.1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company, published 2004, page 36
- Across from us two young men were setting up a battery of drums; they cast furtive glances at Rachel as she cracked open a bottle of rum, tipped it three times toward the poteau mitan, and took a drink.1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 226
Forms of potomitan
| plural | potomitans |
|---|---|
| alternative form | poteau mitan |
| alternative form | poteau-mitan |
| alternative form | poto mitan |
Origin of potomitan
From Haitian Creole potomitan, and its source, French poteau mitan (“central post”).
Questions about potomitan
- What does potomitan mean?
- Potomitan means a sacramental post or pillar in the middle of the peristyle in front of a voodoo temple, used as the focus of certain rituals.
- What part of speech is potomitan?
- Potomitan is a noun.
- What is the plural of potomitan?
- The plural of potomitan is potomitans.
Words near potomitan in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: potomitan (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “potomitan.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/potomitan. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.