Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of numerous deified ancestral spirits of the Pueblo peoples, believed to reside in the pueblo for part of each year.
  • noun A masked dancer believed to embody a particular spirit during a religious ceremony.
  • noun A carved doll in the costume of a particular spirit, usually presented as a gift to a child.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as katcina.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A vaguely ancestral anthropomorphic spirit being, associated with clouds and rain or personifying the power in the sun, the earth, or corn (among other things).
  • noun A wooden doll, as might be given to a child, which represents such a being.
  • noun A masked dancer who represents such a being in a ceremonial dance or masked ceremony.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a carved doll wearing the costume of a particular Pueblo spirit; usually presented to a child as a gift
  • noun a deified spirit of the Pueblo people
  • noun a masked dancer during a Pueblo religious ceremony who is thought to embody some particular spirit

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Hopi katsina, supernatural being, masked impersonator of a supernatural being.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Hopi qatsina.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word kachina.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • spirit of the invisible forces of life (Hopi)

    September 26, 2010