Mojo

How to spell mojo

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce mojo

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does mojo mean?

1. nounA magical charm, knack, or personal power that brings luck, influence, or success.

Mojo in a sentence

• After the long break, the striker finally got his mojo back and started scoring again.

• The old guitarist swore that a lucky charm gave him his stage mojo.

Where does mojo come from?

Language of origin: Other

Mojo is widely believed to come from an African source carried into American English through the Gullah-speaking communities of the southeastern coast. The most commonly cited ancestor is a word in Fula, a West African language, along the lines of moco'o meaning a medicine man or shaman, with related forms tied to the idea of casting a spell. In African American folk practice the word came to name a charm or small cloth bag of magical items worn for luck and protection, the so-called mojo bag or mojo hand. From the early twentieth century, especially through blues music, the meaning broadened to a general sense of personal magnetism, sexual potency, or a winning knack. Because the word arrived through oral tradition rather than written records, its exact path is not certain, which is why the spelling settled simply on what the sound suggested.

How the word is built

• mojo (a single unanalysable root borrowed whole; no prefix or suffix)