English words of African origin explained

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 ^[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]
• 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 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 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)
• Obidient - follower of Nigerian politician Peter Obi
• 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 travel, 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 tilapia – possibly a Latinization of "tlhapi", the Tswana word for "fish"^[14]
• tsetse – from a Bantu language (Tswana tsetse, Luhya)
• 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]

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Senegambian Akonting. 15 November 2023.
2. Web site: Black People : – The Mandinka Legacy in The New World. 2021-05-26. Destee – Black Discussion Forum. en-US.
3. Web site: The Ekonting: African Roots of the Banjo – A Direct Connection Between African & African-American Music – Down Home Radio Show. 16 April 2008 . 2021-05-26. en-US.
4. Web site: Bongo | Etymology, origin and meaning of bongo by etymonline.
5. 453613. The Etymology of 'Buckaroo'. American Speech. 35. 1. 51–55. Mason. Julian. 1960. 10.2307/453613.
6. Web site: 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. Web site: Kola Definition & Meaning . Dictionary.com . 2022-05-13.
9. Web site: Ebony Definition & Meaning . Dictionary.com . 2022-05-13.
10. Book: Worlds Apart: Modernity Through the Prism of the Local. Conference. Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth. Conference 1. Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth. 1995. Psychology Press. 9780415107884. en.
11. Web site: 2011-08-07. Play Stuff Blog » Archives » Jenga. Jenga? Jenga! National Museum of Play. 2021-09-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20110807140452/http://www.museumofplay.org/blog/play-stuff/2009/01/jenga-jenga-jenga/. 2011-08-07.
12. Web site: JUKEBOX definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary. 15 November 2023.
13. Web site: Jumbo definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary.
14. Web site: Tilapia etymology. www.aquaticcommunity.com. 15 November 2023.
15. Web site: Voodoo definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary.
16. Web site: Zebra | Etymology, origin and meaning of zebra by etymonline.
17. Web site: zombie | Search Online Etymology Dictionary. www.etymonline.com. 15 November 2023.