Phrase guide

medicine woman

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A female Native American (or, any other indigenous) shamanistic healer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Near-synonym: shaman

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: shaman

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Probably a calque of Ojibwe mashkikiiwininiikwe (“female doctor”), from mashkiki (“medicine”) + inini (“man”) + ikwe (“woman”).

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Danish: klog kone — shamanistic healer
  • Danish: medicinkvinde — shamanistic healer
  • Dutch: medicijnvrouw — shamanistic healer
  • Esperanto: kuraculino — shamanistic healer
  • French: femme-médecine — shamanistic healer
  • French: sorcière — shamanistic healer
  • German: Medizinfrau — shamanistic healer
  • Maasai: enk-aíkoni — shamanistic healer
  • Norwegian Bokmål: medisinkvinne — shamanistic healer
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: medisinkvinne — shamanistic healer
  • Polish: znachorka — shamanistic healer
  • Polish: babka — shamanistic healer
  • Swedish: medicinkvinna — shamanistic healer