Vocabulário
Glossary
Words you'll hear in the roda. They're underlined in the lyrics — tap one to see what it means.
- Agogô
- A double bell struck with a stick.
- Aidê
- A woman's name in song; in one popular story, an enslaved woman who refused her master and escaped to the quilombo.
- Angoleiro
- A player of Capoeira Angola.
- Atabaque
- The tall hand drum of the bateria.
- Axé
- Life force, positive energy — the good vibration of the roda. Also used as a greeting or blessing.
- Berimbau
- The musical bow with a gourd resonator that leads the roda and sets the game.
- Camará
- Comrade, friend. The response sung in the louvação, from "camarada".
- Gunga
- The deepest berimbau, played by whoever leads the roda.
- Iaiá
- Old Bahian form of address for a young mistress or lady (from "sinhá"); the partner of ioiô in many refrains.
- Iê
- The call that opens a ladainha or stops the game — the berimbau's voice made human.
- Ioiô
- Old Bahian form of address for a young master or gentleman (from "senhor"); in songs often just part of the refrain, paired with iaiá.
- Jogo
- The game — capoeira is not "fought", it is played.
- Lampião
- Nickname (literally "lantern") of the famous cangaceiro Virgulino Ferreira da Silva.
- Malícia
- Craftiness — reading your opponent and deceiving them with a smile.
- Mandinga
- Magic, cunning and charm in the game; the hidden, mystical side of capoeira.
- Marinheiro
- Sailor.
- Mestre
- Master; the highest title of a capoeira teacher.
- Pandeiro
- The Brazilian frame drum with jingles.
- Paranauê
- A sung exclamation built on "Paraná" — the great river on Brazil's border with Paraguay and Argentina.
- Patuá
- A small protective amulet, often a cloth pouch worn around the neck.
- Reco-reco
- A scraper — a notched piece of bamboo or wood rubbed with a stick.
- Roda
- The circle of people, music and singing in which capoeira is played.
- Terreiro
- A yard or open ground — and the sacred space of a Candomblé house.
- Vadiar
- To loaf, to play around — the old word for playing capoeira, from the days when capoeiristas were called "vadios" (idlers).
- Viola
- The highest-pitched of the three berimbaus (gunga, médio, viola), which improvises over the others. Also a name for a guitar.
- Volta do mundo
- “The world goes round” — walking around the roda during a pause in the game; also a reminder that life turns.