smell, verb
- Origin:
- Translation of the Nguni word nuka; cf. isanusi.
a. transitive. Usually in the phrase to smell out. In traditional African medicine: To detect or discover (an evil-doer or source of misfortune) by supernatural means. See also umhlahlo, witchdoctor.
b. intransitive. rare. To perform the ritual by which an evil influence is identified.
1959 L. Longmore Dispossessed 176Africans have lost confidence in all European doctors who ask for histories of illnesses and the painful areas of the body. They want the doctor to ‘smell out’.
To detect or discover (an evil-doer or source of misfortune) by supernatural means.
To perform the ritual by which an evil influence is identified.
- Derivatives:
- Hence smeller out noun phrase, isanusi.
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