List of English words of African origin

List of English words of African origin

This is a list of English language words that come from any of the Sub-Saharan African languages. It excludes placenames except where they have become common words.

the wildkid kid= who is crazy wild
*aardvark - Afrikaans word, meaning earth (or ground) pig
*apartheid - Afrikaans policy of separate development/living
*banana - West African, possibly Wolof "banana"
*banjo - probably Bantu "mbanza"
*basenji- breed of dog from the Congo
*biltong - from Afrikaans - "cured meat" (often used in South African English)
*bongo - West African "boungu"
*braai - from Afrikaans - "barbecue" (often used in South African English)
*buckra - from Efik and Ibibio "mbakara" "master" [The Etymology of 'Buckaroo', Julian Mason, American Speech, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Feb., 1960), pp. 51-55, [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-1283(196002)35%3A1%3C51%3ATEO'%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O] ]
*bwana - from swahili
*chachacha possibly from Kimbundu, onomatopoeia for ringing bells or rattles worn around the legs of a female dancers.
*chigger - possibly from Wolof and Yoruba "jiga" "insect")
*chimpanzee - from a Bantu language, possibly Tshiluba "kivili-chimpenze"
*cola - from West African languages (Temne "kola", Mandinka "kolo")
*coffee - disputed; either from the Ethiopian region/Kingdom of Kaffa, where coffee originated, or Arabic "kahwa"
*conga - feminized form of "Congo" through Spanish
*dengue - possibly from Swahili "dinga"
*djembe from West African languages [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/djembe]
*fandango- possibly from the kikongo empire [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_1998_April/ai_20925453]
*gnu - from Bushman "!nu" through Hottentot "i-ngu" and Dutch "gnoe"
*goober - possibly from Bantu (Kikongo and Kimbundu "nguba")
*gumbo - from Bantu (Kimbundu "ngombo" meaning "okra")
*indaba - from Xhosa or Zulu languages - 'meeting' (often used in South African English)
*jambalaya possibly from tshiluba
*jamboree possibly from swahili "jambo".
*jazz - from West African languages (Mandinka "jasi", Temne "yas")
*jive - possibly from Wolof "jev"
*jumbo - from Swahili ("jambo" or "jumbe" or from Kongo "nzamba" "elephant")
*juju - Yoruba
*juke, jukebox - possibly from Wolof and Bambara "dzug" through Gullah
*kalimba
*Kwanzaa - from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza", meaning "first fruits".
*kwashiorkor - from Ga language, Coastal Ghana meaning "swollen stomach"
*impala - from Zulu "im-pala"
*lapa - from Sotho languages - "enclosure" or "barbecue area" (often used in South African English)
*macaque - from Bantu "makaku" through Portuguese and French
*mamba - from Zulu or Swahili "mamba"
*mambo - possibly West African through Haitian Creole
*marimba - from Bantu (Kimbundu and Swahili "marimba", "malimba")
*marimbula
*merengue (dance) possibly from Fulani mererek i meaning to shake or quiver
*mumbo jumbo - uncertain West African etymology
*mojo - from Fula "moco'o" "medicine man" through Louisiana Creole French or Gullah
*obeah - from West African (Efik "ubio", Twi "ebayifo")
*okra - from Igbo "ókùrù"
*okapi - from a language in the Congo
*safari - from Swahili "travel", ultimately from Arabic
*samba from an African language through Brazilian Portuguese [http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/samba?view=uk] [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/samba] , [http://www.carnaval.com/cityguides/brazil/rio/sambacult.htm carnaval website]
*sambo - Fula "sambo" meaning "uncle
*sangoma - from Zulu - "traditional healer" (often used in South African English)
*tango - probably from Ibibio "tamgu"
*tsetse - from a Bantu language (Tswana "tsetse", Luhya "tsiisi")
*trek - from Afrikaans - "move" (often used in South African English)
*ubuntu - Bantu languages
*voodoo - from West African languages (Ewe and Fon "vodu" "spirit")
*yam - West African (Fula "nyami", Twi "anyinam")
*zebra - possibly from a language in the Congo
*zombie - Central African (Kikongo "zumbi", Kimbundu "nzambi")

ee also

*List of Spanish words of African origin

References

* [http://www.etymonline.com/ Online Etymology Dictionary]
* [http://jstor.org Common words of african origin-William Megenney, University of California, Riverside]


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