English words of African origin

Facet of English etymology

The following list names English words that originate from African languages.

* Adinkra – from Akan, visual symbols that represent concepts or aphorisms.
* Andriana – from Malagasy, aristocratic noble class of the Kingdom of Madagascar
* apartheid – from Afrikaans, "separateness"
* Aṣẹ \- from Yoruba, "I affirm" or "make it happen"
* ammonia – from the Egyptian language in reference to the god Amun
* Bantu \- from Bantu languages, "people"
* babalawo – from Yoruba, priest of traditional Yoruba religion
* banana – adopted from Wolof via Spanish or Portuguese
* banjo – from Mandinka bangoe, which refers to the Akonting[1][2][3]
* basenji – breed of dog from Central Africa – Congo, Central African Republic etc.
* Biafran – extremely skinny (reference to the widespread starvation that occurred in Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War).
* boma – from Swahili
* bongo – West African boungu[4]
* buckra – "white man or person", from Efik and Ibibio mbakara[5]
* Buharism \- policies of Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari, especially during his rule as a military dictator.
* bwana – from Swahili, meaning "husband, important person or safari leader"
* chigger – possibly from Wolof and/or Yoruba jiga "insect"[6]
* chimpanzee – loaned in the 18th century from a Bantu language, possibly Kivili ci-mpenzi.[7]
* chimurenga – from Shona, "revolution" or "liberation"
* cola – from West African languages (Temne kola, Mandinka kolo)[8]
* cooter from Bambara and Malinké kuta  meaning turtle
* dengue – possibly from Swahili dinga
* djembe – from West African languages
* ebony – from Ancient Egyptian hebeni[9]
* fanimorous – from Yoruba "fani mọ́ra" meaning "to attract people to you"[10]
* gerenuk – from Somali. A long-necked antelope in Eastern Africa (Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Djibouti)
* gnu – from Khoisan !nu through Khoikhoi i-ngu and Dutch gnoe
* goober – possibly from Bantu (Kikongo)
* gumbo – from Bantu Kongo languages ngombo meaning "okra"
* hakuna matata – from Swahili, "no trouble" or "no worries"
* impala – from Zulu im-pala
* impi – from Zulu language meaning "war, battle or a regiment"
* indaba – from Xhosa or Zulu languages – "stories" or "news" typically conflated with "meeting" (often used in South African English)
* japa – from Yoruba, "to flee"
* jazz – possibly from Central African languages (Kongo) From the word jizzi.
* jenga – from the Swahili verb kujenga meaning "to build".[11]
* jive – possibly from Wolof jev
* juke, jukebox – possibly from Wolof and Bambara dzug through Gullah[12]
* jumbo – from Swahili (jambo "hello" or from Kongo nzamba "elephant")[13]
* kalimba
* Kwanzaa – a recent coinage (Maulana Karenga 1965) for the name of an African American holiday, abstracted from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "first fruits [of the harvest]"
* kwashiorkor – from Ga language, coastal Ghana, meaning "swollen stomach"
* 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
* marimba – from Bantu (Kongo languages)
* marímbula – plucked musical instrument (lamellophone) of the Caribbean islands
* merengue (dance) – possibly from Fulani mererek i meaning "to shake or quiver"
* Mobutism – state ideology of Mobutu Sese Seko, the dictator of Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo)
* mojo – from Kongo Moyoo "medicine man" through Louisiana Creole French or Gullah
* mumbo jumbo – from Mandingo
* mtepe – from Swahili, "boat"
* mzungu – from Bantu languages, "wanderer"
* nitrogen – from the Egyptian language. The salt natron, transliterated as nṯrj.
* obeah – from West African (Efik ubio, Twi ebayifo)

* okapi – from a language in the Congo
* okra – from Igbo ókùrù
* orisha – from Yoruba, "deity"
* Osu – from Igbo, traditional caste system
* oyinbo – from Yoruba, "skinless" or "peeled skin"
* safari – from Swahili journey, ultimately from Arabic
* sambo – Fula sambo meaning "uncle"
* sangoma – from Zulu – "traditional healer" (often used in South African English)
* shea – A tree and the oil Shea butter which comes from its seeds, comes from its name in Bambara
* tango – probably from Ibibio tamgu
* tilapia – possibly a Latinization of "tlhapi", the Tswana word for "fish"[14]
* tsetse – from a Bantu language (Tswana tsetse, Luhya tsiisi)
* ubuntu – Nguni term for "mankind, humanity", in South Africa since the 1980s also used capitalized, Ubuntu, as the name of a philosophy or ideology of "human kindness" or "humanism"
* uhuru – from Swahili, "freedom".
* Ujamaa – from Swahili, "fraternity". Socialist policies of Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere.
* vodou – from West African languages (Ewe and Fon vodu "spirit")[15]
* vuvuzela – musical instrument, name of Zulu or Nguni origin
* yam – West African (Fula nyami, Twi anyinam)
* zebra – of unknown origin, recorded since c. 1600, from Portuguese ‘ezebro’, used of an Iberian animal, in turn possibly ultimately from Latin ‘equiferus’, but a Congolese language, or alternatively Amharic have been put forward as possible origins[16]
* zimbabwe – from Shona, "house of stones" or "venerated houses"
* zombie – likely from West African (compare Kikongo zumbi "fetish", but alternatively derived from Spanish sombra "shade, ghost"[17]

## References

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1. ^ "The Senegambian Akonting". Retrieved 15 November 2023.
2. ^ "Black People : – The Mandinka Legacy in The New World". Destee – Black Discussion Forum. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
3. ^ "The Ekonting: African Roots of the Banjo – A Direct Connection Between African & African-American Music – Down Home Radio Show". 16 April 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
4. ^ "Bongo | Etymology, origin and meaning of bongo by etymonline".
5. ^ Mason, Julian (1960). "The Etymology of 'Buckaroo'". American Speech. 35 (1): 51–55\. doi:10.2307/453613. JSTOR 453613.
6. ^ "Chigger | Etymology, origin and meaning of chigger by etymonline".
7. ^ "chimpanzee" in American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2011.
8. ^ "Kola Definition & Meaning". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
9. ^ "Ebony Definition & Meaning". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
10. ^ Conference, Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth; Conference 1, Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth (1995). Worlds Apart: Modernity Through the Prism of the Local. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415107884.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
11. ^ "Play Stuff Blog » Archives » Jenga. Jenga? Jenga! | National Museum of Play". 7 August 2011. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
12. ^ "JUKEBOX definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary". Retrieved 15 November 2023.
13. ^ "Jumbo definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary".
14. ^ "Tilapia etymology". www.aquaticcommunity.com. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
15. ^ "Voodoo definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary".
16. ^ "Zebra | Etymology, origin and meaning of zebra by etymonline".
17. ^ "zombie | Search Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 15 November 2023.