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Glite Dictionary
zombie spirit

zombie spirit

9.9
A ghost believed to bring a dead body back to life
  • noun
  • /ˈzɑːm.bi ˈspɪr.ɪt/
  • Literature
translation icon : espíritu zombie
  • In the story, a zombie spirit possesses the body and forces it to roam the night.

Examples

  • The priest claimed he could call forth a zombie spirit during the ritual.

  • Some believers attribute unexplained deaths to the work of a zombie spirit.

  • The zombie spirit is said to possess the body of the deceased.

  • Many believe that a zombie spirit can be summoned during rituals.

  • In voodoo folklore, a zombie spirit is thought to rise from the dead and inhabit a lifeless body.

  • Some practitioners believe that a zombie spirit can be summoned to fulfill the wishes of the living.

  • During the ceremony, the shaman called upon a zombie spirit to help heal the community.

Synonyms

zombi spirit
vszombie spirit
  • Literature
9.9

A spirit in voodoo that makes a dead body come back to life

is identical in meaning but differs as a spelling variant
zombi
vszombie spirit
  • Literature
9.9

A dead body brought back to life by magic that walks and attacks people

is about the unseen force rather than the physical returned corpse

Surface Forms

zombie spirit singular
zombie spirits plural

Morphology

zombie + spirit

The meaning is directly compositional: 'zombie' (a reanimated corpse) combined with 'spirit' (an incorporeal being) yields a spirit associated with reanimation. This straightforward noun-noun combination follows normal English compounding patterns and a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The noun zombie spirit comes from West African and Caribbean beliefs, where the word zombie originally meant a spirit that could come back and take control of a dead body. So, zombie spirit today means a 'supernatural force' that makes a dead body move.