Etymograph

English

mojo

Probably of Creole origin, cognate with Gullah moco (“witchcraft”), Fula moco'o (“medicine man”).

The story

The origin of the drug sense is uncertain, possibly related to Spanish mojar (‘to toast (celebrate with a drink)’).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Another origin of mojo

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)meld-‘to soften, melt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ml̥dus‘soft, weak’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moldusreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmollis‘soft’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*molliāre‘soak’reconstructed
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentmojar‘to make wet, to wet’
  7. Spanish, derivedc. 1500–presentmojo‘a type of sauce from the Canary Islands made from oil and vinegar’
  8. Englishtodaysame form

Today it means

noun A magic spell or hex.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / mojo

Shirt and support for this word