Babylon

Partially inherited from Old English Babilōn/Babȳlōn, partially from Latin Babylōn, from Ancient Greek Βαβυλών (Babulṓn), from Akkadian 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Bābilim, literally “Gate of God”); the name of the ancient Chaldean capital and Biblical city of the Apocalypse. Doublet of Babel.

der

(Rastafari) Western civilization, seen as corrupt and materialistic, and contrasted with Zion.


downstroy

en-verb

downstroy (third-person singular simple present downstroys, present participle downstroying, simple past and past participle downstroyed)

downstroys (present singular third-person)
downstroying (participle present)
downstroyed (participle past)
downstroyed (past)

Blend of down + destroy. Compare downpressor.


downpressor

Blend of down + oppressor, with down replacing op (which is how up sounds in Jamaican patois).


ital

en-noun

ital (countable and uncountable, plural itals)

On the other side of the spectrum are the many ital restaurants that adhere to the Rastafarian dietary laws (no meat, fish or salt).

2009 November 11, Baz Dreisingere, “Kingston: Trading Beach Chairs for Bar Stools”, in The New York Times:

The minister declined the offer of a parley and "itals"―the term for vegetarian dishes that the Dreads favored.

2016, Gabriel J. Christian, Aboard the Commandante Pineres: Dominica, The 11th World Festival of Youth & Students, Cuba July 1978, & the Caribbean Struggle for National Liberation:

(Jamaica, Iyaric) Pure, natural food suiting a Rastafari lifestyle.


Rastafarianism

From Rastafarian + -ism, from Amharic ራስ ተፈሪ (ras täfäri, from ራስ (ras, “chief, head”) + ተፈሪ (täfäri, “revered”)), a title of Haile Selassie.

uder

A religion that emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s out of biblical prophecy and rising black aspirations.


bredrin

Everybody smiling and relax like they was all bredrin now.

2022, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, When We Were Birds, Hamish Hamilton, page 25:

(Rastafari) A close male friend, family member, or comrade.


reggae

From Jamaican Creole rege (“rags; a quarrel”), see rag; originally used in the 1960s to describe a Jamaican dance. Compare ragtime. Broader musical sense popularized by the 1968 song "Do the Reggay".

der

I mean, the very name reggae. I mean, it wasn’t called reggae in the first place. It came from blue beat, just ska, you know? Ska and blue beat, the era, and then reggae. Because it was a dance, originally. And the DJs thought, “That’s a nice name,” and the kept saying “reggae music, reggae music” on the air all the time. “Reggae music, reggae music, the DJs on the radio. So everyone kept on saying “Reggae music”. They classed it as …(other Matumbi band members join in) Reggae.

1978, 05:35 from the start, in Wolfgang Büld, director, Reggae In a Babylon (film (documentary)), spoken by Dennis Bovell (as himself, a member of the band Matumbi):

(Rastafari, music) A music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s and is heavily associated with Rastafarianism, featuring a heavy bass line and percussive rhythm guitar on the offbeat, often with close vocal harmonies.


reggae

pl-noun

reggae n (indeclinable, related adjective reggae'owy or reggaeowy)

reggae'owy (adjective)
reggaeowy (adjective)

Unadapted borrowing from English reggae.

reggae (music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s and is heavily associated with Rastafarianism, featuring a heavy bass line and percussive rhythm guitar on the offbeat, often with close vocal harmonies)


Ital

en-noun

Ital (countable and uncountable, plural Itals)

Alternative form of ital (“Rastafari food”)


Jah

So [...] he say a prayer of thanks because Jah know.

2022, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, When We Were Birds, Hamish Hamilton, page 13:


Lion of Judah

(Rastafari) A nickname of the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie (1892–1975).


i-

From Middle English i-, y-, ȝe-, from Old English ġe-, from Proto-West Germanic *ga-, from Proto-Germanic *ga-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱó-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with, near, by, along”). Cognate with Dutch ge-, Low German ge-, je-, e-, German ge-.

der

(obsolete) Used to form past participles of verbs. Alternative spelling of y-


i-

From Latin ī-, assimilated form of in- used before g-.

A form of the prefix in-, used before gn, as in ignoble, ignominy, and ignore.


i-

(Jamaica) Used to transform English words into words used by Rastafarians with a special meaning.


i-

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₁en-
Proto-Indo-European *h₁en-
Proto-Indo-European *h₁én
Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér
Proto-Italic *ənter
Latin inter
Latin inter-bor.
English inter-
Proto-Indo-European *neHd-der.
Proto-Germanic *natją
Proto-West Germanic *nati
Old English nett
Middle English net
English net
Proto-Indo-European *werǵ-
Proto-Indo-European *-om
Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom
Proto-Germanic *werką
Proto-West Germanic *werk
Old English weorc
Middle English werk
English work
English network
English internetwork
English Internet
English i-
From Internet. Popularized in the name of the iMac line of computers (1998).

etymon

i- + pod → iPod

i- + phone → iPhone

i- + Mac → iMac

I-WHAT?! Seems everyone's ripping off the iMac idea. Take this parody ad for the fruity-colored “iBrator” at sleeplessknights.com.

1999 November 1, Melissa August, “Ad Infinitum”, in Time, volume 154, page 39:

In our “iWorld” of new gadgets and cool widgets, help us to ponder the reality that over half of the population on the earth exists on three of our American dollars, or less, a day.

2011, Scotty Smith, Everyday Prayers: 365 Days to a Gospel-Centered Faith, Baker Books, →ISBN, page 178:

Alluding to digital devices and computer programs, especially those that are cutting-edge or fashionable, and those from Apple.


sistren

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. Analysable as sister + -en (plural ending).

nonlemma

Come out of the dark and come into the light, sistren.

2014, Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings, Oneworld Publications (2015), page 157:

(Rastafari) A close female friend, family member, or comrade.


sufferation

Borrowed from Jamaican Creole sofarieshan.

bor+

In this time of economic hardship, there is only sufferation upon the land.

Lockdown remind you that what make you brothers is not blood but sufferation.

2014, Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings, Oneworld Publications (2015), page 332:

(Rastafari, Jamaica, nonstandard) Suffering, especially due to poverty or repression.


sensi

In Westmoreland, where the sensi come from / Me put it in a crocus barrel, upon the mini van

1985, Wayne Smith (lyrics and music), “Under Me Sleng Teng”:

[AK The Savior]: Smoking sensi, high sensei in your membrane.

2013, “Herb Shuttles”, in Indigoism, performed by Underachievers:

Yeah, man used to move that white, yeah, we be them old school dealers. She’s lighting up some sensis, he’s lighting up amnesias.

2015, “Man Don’t Care”, in Integrity, performed by Jme and Giggs:

That’s why me haffi lead and set the trend fi dem. Dash ‘way the coke dem and go sensi dem.

2018, “Help The Weak”performed by Capleton and Sizzla:

(Rastafari, Jamaica, slang) Clipping of sensimilla.


Rastaman

But the most important aspect was that dreadlocks guaranteed a Rastaman was true to himself at all times...

2001, Lloyd Bradley, This is Reggae Music:

If I had known, really, what a Rastaman was, I would have thought this was no place for a Rastaman.

2004, Hank Bordowitz, Every Little Thing Gonna be Alright:


Rastafari

From Amharic ራስ (ras, “Duke”, literally “head”) and ተፈሪ (täfäri, “revered”) from ተፈሪ መኮንን (täfäri mäkonn, “Haile Selassie”, literally “feared (son of) Makonnen”). More at Haile Selassie.


livity

(Rastafari) Harmony in a natural world and living faith.


downpress

en-verb

downpress (third-person singular simple present downpresses, present participle downpressing, simple past and past participle downpressed)

downpresses (present singular third-person)
downpressing (participle present)
downpressed (participle past)
downpressed (past)

That’s why the white man just downpress you so.

2014, Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings, Oneworld Publications (2015), page 156:


baldhead

(Rastafari) A person who is not Rastafarian.


lionism

From lion (“big cat (Panthera leo); (figurative) famous person regarded with interest and curiosity; person who shows attributes associated with the lion such as courage, ferocity, or strength”) + -ism (suffix forming names of schools of thought, systems, or theories, or of tendencies of action, behaviour, condition, state, condition, or opinion belonging to a class or group of persons).
Sense 1 (“19th-century practice of bringing an interesting person or object into one’s home as entertainment for visitors; state of being such a person or object”) refers to the lions previously on display at a menagerie in the Tower of London, which existed till the 19th century. Sense 4 refers to the Lion of Judah, a hereditary title of Haile Selassie I (1892–1975), the Emperor of Ethiopia, who is revered by some members of the Rastafari movement as the messiah; the lion is thus a symbol of Rastafarianism.

affix

[page 73] Lionism transcends even Haile Selassie who merely came in the name of the Lion – as "The Conquering Lion of Judah" or as the "man-lion from Mount Zion." […] [page 75] Most Rastas attempt to become lions by attempting to syncretise and use all of these elements [Anancism, Judaic-Christianity, and African-Original Vibrations], as a means for their survival and progress. But some of these factors have ceased to be sources of strength – they have now become fetters and chains. […] Yet it is here, in this repressed sphere of African original roots vibrations, that the enduring foundations of true lionism is to be found. Ultimately, then, the return to Lionism means destroying or transcending major ingredients of our inherited selves – albeit our acquired (slave) selves.

1980 December, Dennis Forsythe, “West Indian Culture through the Prism of Rastafarianism”, in R[alston] M[ilton] Nettleford, editor, Caribbean Quarterly: Rastafari, volume 26, number 4, Mona, Jamaica: Department of Extra-mural Studies, University of the West Indies, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, pages 73 and 75:

The remainder of [Dennis] Forsythe’s paper and the subsequent book that followed elaborated on implementing the characteristics of ‘lionism’ and achieving Rasta’s true ideal: […]

1999, William David Spencer, “The ‘Eastern’ Christ of Rastafari”, in Dread Jesus, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock Publishers, published 1 April 2011, →ISBN, page 67:

Ten years after, [Leonard Percival] Howell purchased ‘Pinnacle estate in Sligoville, St. Catherine[…] . . . the first free village established after “given emancipation” in 1938’[…]. It was at this site that ‘lionism’ and other fundamental RastafarI^([sic]) tenets were first developed.

2010, Delano Vincent Palmer, “The Story of RastafarI”, in Messianic ‘I’ and Rastafari in New Testament Dialogue: Bio-narratives, the Apocalypse, and Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Lanham, Md.; Plymouth, Devon: University Press of America, →ISBN, part I (Chronological Overview), page 21:

(Rastafari) The ideals of Rastafarianism.


Idren

(Rastafari) One's peers, or spiritual brothers and sisters.


itinually

(Rastafari) continually; perpetually; always


Inity

Blend of I + unity, replacing the you sound.


downpression

en-noun

downpression (usually uncountable, plural downpressions)

Blend of down + oppression; see downpressor.

The downpression of native people is linked to the subjugation and exploitation of the Earth.

1983, Winona LaDuke, “They Always Come Back”, in Beth Brant, editor, A Gathering of Spirits, page 54:

Rastaman don’t deal with negativity so oppression is now downpression even though there is no up in the word.


livication

livication (countable and uncountable, plural livications)

Blend of live + dedication, as if the latter began with dead.


Nyabinghi

Most likely from a Great Lakes Bantu language. Compare Tooro -nya- (“pertaining to”) and ingi (“rich in; plentiful in”). The spelling with -gh- may reflect an early spelling of /ŋɡ/ to distinguish it from the simple /ŋ/.

(Rastafari, religion) A religious sect of the Rastafarian religion.

the Rastas wanted cannabis legalised, and a reserved plot on the land out back for their Nyabinghi gatherings

2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other, Penguin Books (2020), page 18:

(Rastafari) A ceremony associated with the Nyabinghi.


Nyabinghi

(Rastafari, music) A style of music and a rhythm associated with the sect and ceremony, and with reggae music.


nyabinghi

From Nyabinghi, the name of a legendary Ugandan/Rwandan tribe queen.

(Rastafari, music) A style of music and a rhythm originally associated with the Nyabinghi sect of Rastafarians, but now more generally known as a component of reggae, especially roots reggae.


wombman

From womb (“uterus”) + man, modelled after woman.


churchical

en-adj

churchical (comparative more churchical, superlative most churchical)

more churchical (comparative)
most churchical (superlative)

/ˈt͡ʃɜːt͡ʃɪk(ə)l/

/ˈt͡ʃɝt͡ʃɪk(ə)l/

Ethiopia, the Saviour of the world. Ethiopia as an Empire with hundreds of Ethnic groups with their religious beliefs centered around the House of David; these traditions and customs were taken to Jamaica and were kept alive by underground secret society with the churchical order dealing with divinity and person of the King of Ethiopia, as were passed down orally by the elders to each generation which maintained the faith of their fathers and did not bow to Baal and its idolatry by becoming protestantised.

1991, E[verton] S. P. McPherson, Rastafari and Politics: Sixty Years of a Developing Cultural Ideology: A Sociology of Development Perspective (H.I.M. Centenary Celebration Work; no. 1), Clarendon, Jamaica: Black International Iyahbinghi Press, →ISBN, page 22:

These more formal groups [of Rastafarians] fall into two categories: "churchical" and "statical." The churchical are so designated because of their emphasis on the development of Rastafarian religious culture and behavior and on the cultivation of African cultural consciousness and lifestyle. Prince Edward's Ethiopian National Congress, Claudius Henry's Peacemakers Association, the Twelve Tribes of Israel, The Rastafarian Theocratic Government, and the Sons of Negus are examples of churchical Rastafarian organizations. The statical groups gain this designation from their commitment to more political and social goals.

1998, Ennis B[arrington] Edmonds, “The Structure and Ethos of Rastafari”, in Nathaniel Samuel Murrell, William David Spencer, Adrian Anthony McFarlane, editors, Chanting down Babylon: The Rastafari Reader, Philadelphia, Pa.: Temple University Press, →ISBN, page 351:

In line with Rastafari conceptions of an ancient theocracy, their concept of self-determination takes the form of a churchical state.

2006, Werner Zips, editor, Rastafari: A Universal Philosophy in the Third Millennium, Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers, →ISBN, page 135:

With this caution in mind I suggest that the militant orientation tends to be a more masculine expression, while the churchical remains closer to traditional Afro-Christian gender roles.

2014, Jeanne Christensen, “‘From the Cross to the Throne’”, in Rastafari Reasoning and the RastaWoman: Gender Constructions in the Shaping of Rastafari Livity (Critical Africana Studies: African, African American, and Caribbean Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Studies), Lanham, Md., Plymouth, Devon: Lexington Books, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 110:

(chiefly Jamaica, Rastafari) Pertaining to the strain of Rastafarian culture that emphasizes a traditional theocracy.


grounation

(Rastafari) A Rastafarian meeting for the discussion of religious, social, and political topics.


shitstem

I speak for the people through protest music because I am part of the downtrodden being oppressed by the shitstem.

The United States of Amerik.k.k.a is responsible for founding four unique shitstems of incarceration, according to Angela Y. Davis, […]

2012, Ralph C. Hamm III, Manumission: The Liberated Consciousness of a Prison(er) Abolitionist:

(Rastafari, slang, vulgar, derogatory) An oppressive sociopolitical system.


rastacap

Sam rummaged through her bag for the Bob Marley rastacap she'd also picked up that afternoon, all on Jackson's tab.

2017, Nathan Birr, Chasing the Wind - The Douglas Files: Book Five: Book Five, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 13:

Jake's was black and depicted Bob Marley smoking a bong while wearing a red, green, and yellow rastacap.

2018, Nathan Birr, Fire & Ice, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 212:

A rastacap (§23.11) is a round knit cap often worn by Rastafarians with dreadlocks. I use it here as a mark of religious commitment comparable to the ṭaylasān, a garment draped over the head to indicate dedication to religious scholarship.

2020, al-Ḥarīrī, Impostures, NYU Press, →ISBN, page 213:

His body was emaciated, an effect he usually amplified with a rastacap mounted on his dreadlocks, which made his head look like a giant wasp's bottom. Not today, though. Today, Kero wore his dreadlocks au naturel.

2020, Burnaby Hawkes, The Haze, Athena Book Tavern, →ISBN, page 107:

A round, knit or crocheted cap associated with Rastafaris who have dreadlocks.