macumba
"macumba" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“macumba” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A type of Afro-Brazilian folk religion combining elements of Roman Catholicism with traditional African religious beliefs and practices; or a specific cult or ceremony of such religion.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | macumba |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “macumba” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
macumba is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A type of Afro-Brazilian folk religion combining elements of Roman Catholicism with traditional African religious beliefs and practices; or a specific cult or ceremony of such religion.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for macumba, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Portuguese macumba (“macumba; curse”), derived from Kimbundu makôba (or a related Bantu language of western Central Africa). The correct English form is macumba, spelled M-A-C-U-M-B-A.
Definition
- 1A type of Afro-Brazilian folk religion combining elements of Roman Catholicism with traditional African religious beliefs and practices; or a specific cult or ceremony of such religion.
Etymology
Borrowed from Portuguese macumba (“macumba; curse”), derived from Kimbundu makôba (or a related Bantu language of western Central Africa).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “macumba”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-C-U-M-B-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.