mambo

The story

1. Spanish · derived frommambo“dance”
2. Yoruba · derived frommambo“to talk”
3. Haitian Creole · derived frommanbo“voodoo priestess”
4. English todaymambo

From Haitian Creole manbo (“voodoo priestess”) (ultimately from Yoruba mambo (“to talk”)), in later senses via Cuban Spanish mambo (“dance”).

First known use, by meaning

• from 20th c. A voodoo priestess (in Haiti)
• from 20th c. A Latin-American musical genre, adapted from rumba, originating from Cuba in the 1940s, or a dance or rhythm of this genre.