In honor of Black History Month, I thought it would be fun to put together a list of English words that are derived from African languages!
Check it out!
- 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”[1]
- 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 [2]
- fandango- possibly from the kikongo empire[3]
- Geranuk – Somali: Gerenuk means “giraffe-necked” in the Somali language
- 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 [4][5], 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)