Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

medicine woman

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.64 in modern English

Syllables
medicine -wom-an
IPA
23
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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

Example Sentences

Etymology

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

Inflected Forms

medicine women (plural)

Phrases

folk medicine herbal medicine indigenous medicine traditional medicine

Frequently Paired Words

folk medicine herbal medicine indigenous medicine medicinal traditional medicine medicine man

Synonyms

shaman

Questions

What does medicine woman mean?
A female Native American (or, any other indigenous) shamanistic healer.
Where does medicine woman come from?
Probably a calque of Ojibwe mashkikiiwininiikwe (“female doctor”), from mashkiki (“medicine”) + inini (“man”) + ikwe (“woman”).

How to pronounce medicine woman

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “medicine woman”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “medicine woman”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “medicine woman” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.