Glossary

Abbreviations, Glossary, and the Lwa of Vodou

Abbreviations

AG - attorney general; both state and federal chief law enforcement officer

CBP - Customs and Border Patrol, Department of Homeland Security

CERN - Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, Geneva, Switzerland; the European laboratory for particle physics and site of the Large Hadron Collider

CIA - Central Intelligence Agency

CPO - chief petty officer, a Navy and Coast Guard non-commissioned officer

CPS - Child Protective Services, a division of most states’ Health and Human Resources Departments or their equivalent

CRT - cathode ray tube; the picture tube in the original television

DARPA - Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of Defense

DoD - Department of Defense

DSS - Diplomatic Security Service, unit of Department of State, provides security for U.S. embassy officials plus other related duties

E-5, E-6 - sergeant and staff sergeant in Army and Marine Corps; non-commissioned officer pay grades. These pay grades have different rank names in the other military services

EE - electrical engineering, “double-E”

EMF - electromagnetic frequency

eV - electron volt; the energy an electron gains when accelerated by one volt of electricity. K prefix - thousand; M prefix - million. G prefix - billion. See TeV below

FBO - Fixed base operator, airport general aviation office

fMRI - functional MRI, MRI application to visualize oxygenated blood flow in the brain to detect neural activity

HMCM - master chief hospital corpsman, U.S. Navy.

IC - integrated circuit. Miniature electronic device (“chip”) consisting of tiny transistors, resistors, capacitors, and other circuit components to perform a discrete task

ITF - International Taekwondo Federation

LED - light-emitting diode

LHC - Large Hadron Collider, Geneva, Switzerland. World’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator.

LT - lieutenant, first or second, in shorthand speech (Marines or Army). Pronounced “ell-tee”

MMA - mixed martial arts

MP - member of U.K. Parliament; also military police

MPS - Metropolitan Police Service, Greater London’s police force, informally “Scotland Yard”

MRI - magnetic resonance imaging, the machine or the process, which excites protons using RF to image anatomical structures inside the body

NCO - non-commissioned officer

NDA - non-disclosure agreement. Contract to restrict a party from sharing confidential information of another party.

NSA - National Security Agency, Department of Defense

OAS - Organization of American States

RF - radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation

RFID - radio-frequency identification

SAT/PSAT - Scholastic Aptitude Test, achievement screening exam used for college admissions. “P” is for preliminary, a kind of practice exam

SI - International System of units, for example, gram for weight and meter for length

STEM - science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; educational program

TA - teaching assistant in university

TDY - temporary duty

TeV - tera (trillion) electron volts, an amount of energy equivalent to 1.602176634×10^-16 joules

TeV/c² - eV mass equivalent at atomic scale. 1 TeV/c² = 1.78266192×10^-24 kilograms

TSA - Transportation Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security

UHF - ultra high frequency

VA - Department of Veteran’s Affairs

XO - executive officer

Terms

(most Haitian Creole (Kreyòl) terms have several different spellings)

Adja - language and people of the Adja-Tado Gbe group of the Atlantic-Congo family, primarily of south-western Benin, south-eastern Togo, and south-eastern Ghana

alamyet - Kreyòl, Vodou service held without drums

álfr - Old Icelandic, Norse spirit, “elf,” associated with light and beauty, plural, álfar

anvizib - Kreyòl, ”invisibles”

asson - from Fon, rattle made of a gourd, symbol of Vodou priest’s/priestess’ position

baka - from Fon, evil spirits

bòkò - from Fon, bokono, “sorcerer”; those who serve baka.

Bondye - Kreyòl, from French, bon Dieu. The Supreme Being, God. Also, Gran Mèt.

bonswa - Kreyòl, “hello” (said after 12 p.m.), from French, bon soir, “good evening”

chérie - French, “darling”

caplata - Kreyòl, “witch”

choché - from French (?), magician or sorcerer, lit., “hot”

chwal - Kreyòl, “horse,” from French, cheval

dís - Old Norse, Norse guardian (tutelary) spirit for a person, group, or site, plural, dísir

djévò - Kreyòl, room in ounfò where initiate is sequestered for the duration of the kouche

femèl chen - Kreyòl, “bitch,” from French, “female dog”

Ewe - language and people descended from the Adja; primarily of Benin, but also of Togo, Nigeria, and eastern Ghana

Fon - language and people descended from the Adja; primarily of Benin

Ginen - the “African heaven”

gris-gris - from French, “amulet”; originally referred to a type of fetish or amulet.

gwo-bôn-nanj - Kreyòl, “big good angel,” from French, grand bon ange. In Vodou theology, immortal aspect of the human spirit, the soul

in camera - Latin, “in chambers.” Legal term meaning “in private”

kanzo - Fon, “initiate.” Vodou clergy initiation rite, or the initiate to become an oungan or manbo

konesans - Kreyòl, Vodou initiate studies, from French, connaissance, “knowledge”

kouche - Kreyòl, “to lie down;” final part of kanzo rite, the seclusion. From Old French, couchier

Kreyòl - Haitian Creole language

lav tèt - Kreyòl, “head washing,” from French, laver tête. Part of kanzo initiation

lwa - Kreyòl, “spirit,” possibly derived from “law,” thought to have been combined with the Tswana term meaning “to bewitch”

lwa acheté - Kreyòl, evil lwa, lit., “bought lwa” from French, acheté, “bought” or “purchased”

maman - French, “mother, mom”

manbo - Kreyòl, Vodou priestess, from Fon, nanbo, “mother of magic.” Also mambo