Republic of Djibouti

The country in Eastern Africa known as Djibouti.


Zanzibari

Once a white man in an unbuttoned uniform, camping on the path with an armed escort of lank Zanzibaris, very hospitable and festive, not to say drunk.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 209:


Gordian

Gordianus, name of three Roman emperors.


Orange River

Named in honor of the House of Orange-Nassau.


kocho

A bread-like fermented food made from chopped and grated ensete pulp, a staple of Ethiopian cuisine.


Red Sea

From Middle English Red See, Reede See, Rede See, reade sea, from Old English Rēad Sǣ, a calque of Latin Mare Rubrum, itself a calque of Ancient Greek Ἐρυθρᾱ̀ θάλασσα (Eruthrā̀ thálassa); equivalent to red + sea.

der

Ἐρυθρᾱ̀ θάλασσα

A long, narrow sea between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula; links the Suez Canal with the Arabian Sea.

ባሕረ ቈልዝም

baḥrä ḳʷälzəm

(US politics) The states of the western and southern United States which consistently vote Republican in presidential elections.


SLA

en-noun

SLA (countable and uncountable, plural SLAs)

Sudan Liberation Army
w:Sudan Liberation Army

(politics) Initialism of Sudan Liberation Army, (also known as SLM)


Oromo

A member of a people of eastern Africa, Ethiopia and northern Kenya.


Soudan

About February last year two figures were circling round the office of the Pall Mall Gazette, the one writing articles, the other being interviewed; they were those of the two ex-Governors of the Soudan, Sir Samuel Baker and General Gordon, then just returned from Brussels.

1885 March 20, Ernest Belfort Bax, “Gordon and the Soudan”, in The Commonweal, volume 1, number 2, page 9:

Archaic form of Sudan.: A country in North Africa and East Africa.


piaster

The subdivision of the South Sudanese pound, equal to 1/100 of a pound.


piastre

From French piastre, from Italian piastra (“plate of wood or metal; coin”), probably from Latin emplastra.

der

A form of currency currently used as a subunit in the Middle Eastern and East African countries of Egypt, Jordan (partly including Palestine), Lebanon, South Sudan, Sudan, and Syria.


West Africa

A region of Africa, spanning 16 countries.


negus

1590s, borrowed from Amharic ንጉሥ (nəguś, “king, ruler”), itself a loan from Ge'ez ንጉሥ (nəguś, “king, ruler”), from the verb ነግሠ (nägśä, “rule”).

Sir, the Negus of Ethiopia is here in person; and this is the day of our death, doe what you can to saue your selfe, for my part I meane here to die

1614 Samuel Purchas, Purchas his pilgrimes. part 2 In fiue bookes, Chap. V. The Voyage of Sir FRANCIS ALVAREZ, a Portugall Priest, made vnto the Court of PRETE IANNI, the great Christian Emperour of Ethiopia, §. XVII. (p. 1102)

In the Abyssinian Language a King is call'd Negus. Their Monarch they stile Negus Negasta, which is as much as to say, King of Kings.

1739, John Campbell, The Travels and Adventures of Edward Brown, page 292:

It was a Syrian merchant, Frumentius, who is credited with converting Ezana, the Negus (king or emperor) of the powerful northern Ethiopian state of Aksum.

2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 240:

(historical) A ruler of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), or of a province of Ethiopia; specifically, the king of Ethiopia before 1974.


Hadrian

From the Latin Hadrianus (“from the Roman harbor Hadria”), from Etruscan 𐌇𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌉𐌀 (hatria), possibly from Venetic adur (“water”), related to English water, Latin unda and Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr), all from Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥. Doublet of Adrian. See Adria.

bor

(historical) The Roman emperor Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus.


Middle Kingdom

Calque of German Mittleres Reich, eventually displacing Middle Empire, an older calque of the same term. Coined c. 1840 as part of a periodization of Ancient Egyptian history into Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms.

First Intermediate Period
First Intermediate Period

Second Intermediate Period
Second Intermediate Period

(historical) Egypt from the time of its reunification under Mentuhotep II in the 11th Dynasty (ending the First Intermediate Period) to its disintegration during the 13th Dynasty and the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period.

اَلدَّوْلَة اَلْوَسْطِيَّة

Egypt in the late 11th, 12th, and early 13th dynasties


metica

A proposed currency of Mozambique in the 1970s, never put into circulation.


cauri

An extremely tall tree found exclusively in New Zealand, the kauri.

A type of seashell found on the western coast of the African continent.


Honorius

From Late Latin Honorius, derived from honōrus (“conferring honour”).

A Latin male given name from Latin, notably borne by a Roman emperor and several popes.


Tiberius

From Latin Tiberius, literally 'Of the Tiber', from Tiberis, the river Tiber. Also note Faliscan equivalent *Tiferios. The name is mistaken by some to be of Etruscan origin but note the borrowed variants, Thefarie (from Faliscan) and Teperi (from Latin).

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee,

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 3:1:

(historical) A male given name from Latin of mostly historical use, in particular, the praenomen of the second Roman emperor Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, reigning 14-37 C.E..


Madagascan

en-adj

Madagascan (comparative more Madagascan, superlative most Madagascan)

more Madagascan (comparative)
most Madagascan (superlative)


Naija

We stopped at the mudhif of an important Sayid, and even a spectacled white-turbaned priest from Naija treated us with courtesy, and did not, as did most of those whom we met later, leave the building as soon as we had entered it.

1957, Gavin Maxwell, People of the Reeds, page 102:

There were obituaries, poems, hastily scratched out but very heartfelt dirges, and a unity that I have never before seen in Naija: a unity that, although it technically lasted about a week, still has lingering effects to the present day.

2000, Ken Saro-Wiwa: Writer and Political Activist, page 139:

But, it is correct to say most of our leaders in Naija are not leaders but looters.

2005, Shrubs and Trees: A Collection of Short Stories, page 31:

He remembered that the process of clearing immigration and locating your luggage in Murtala Muhammad Airport was no small feat for a first time visitor to Naija.

2011, Peter Ladi Thompson, The New Eden, page 10:

(slang) Nigeria (a country in West Africa)


Selected by the European Union as the 3-digit number fastest to dial on cellular and rotary phones without the likelihood of accidental dialing caused by hanging up a landline telephone, sometimes interpreted by phone networks as a 1.

When you call 112 in the United Kingdom, the call is automatically rerouted to 999 operators.

The telephone number for emergency services on all GSM cell phones and in the EU, Russia, United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Indonesia, Turkey, Ukraine, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome, the Seychelles, Uganda, East Timor, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, North Macedonia, Vatican City, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and Saint Vincent.

The telephone number for ambulance services in Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Bhutan, Burundi, and Burkina Faso.

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo

The telephone number for law enforcement in South Korea, Norway, Colombia, Serbia, Lebanon, Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, and Mauritius.

The telephone number for firefighting assistance in Equatorial Guinea and Nauru.


Praetorian

(historical, Ancient Rome) A member of a special bodyguard force used by Roman emperors, their symbol being the scorpion.


Kemetic

Pertaining to ancient Egypt's religion, culture, or language, whether Ancient Egyptian or the modern Coptic language and its dialects.


MENA

Middle East News Agency
w:Middle East News Agency

(politics) Initialism of Middle East News Agency (a Cairo-based news agency, established 1955, nationalized and affiliated to the Egyptian Ministry of Information in 1960.)

Middle East News Agency

2006, The MENA region is anything but stable today, A. H. Cordesman, K. R. Al-Rodhan, The Changing Dynamics of Energy in the Middle East, →ISBN, page 65:

(politics) Initialism of Middle East and North Africa.


Ge'ez

He takes out a leather-bound Bible, written in Ge'ez, illuminated by drawings of angels with large, soulful eyes.

2019, Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King, Canongate Books (2020), page 328:

An Ethiopian language which is extinct but still used liturgically.


Heliogabalus

hē'lēəgăbʹələs

hē'lēōgăbʹələs

A Greek form of Elagabalus, with the first element (and the god) identified with Helios.

But yet I think nobody, could he be sure that the soul of Heliogabalus were in one of his hogs, would yet say that hog were a man or Heliogabalus.

1689, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book II, ch xxvii:

I spent five days in conversing with many others of the ancient learned. I saw most of the first Roman emperors. I prevailed on the governor to call up Heliogabalus's cooks to dress us a dinner, but they could not show us much of their skill, for want of materials.

1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part III (A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdribb, Luggnagg, and Japan):

How pleaſed therefore will the Reader be to find, that we have, in the following Work, adhered cloſely to one of the higheſt Principles of the beſt Cook which the preſent Age, or perhaps that of Heliogabalus, hath produced. This great Man, as is well known to all polite Lovers of eating, begins at firſt by ſetting plain Things before his hungry Gueſts, riſing afterwards by Degrees, as their Stomachs may be ſuppoſed to decreaſe, to the very Quinteſſence of Sauce and Spices.

1749, Henry Fielding, “The Introduction to the Work, or Bill of Fare to the Feaſt”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume I, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book I, page 5:

I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus,

1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “I am the very pattern of a modern major-general”, in The Pirates of Penzance […], Philadelphia: J.M. Stoddart & Co., published 1880, →OCLC, page 16:

Synonym of Elagabalus (“Roman emperor, noted for decadence, eccentricity, femininity, and disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos”).


Cairene

From Latin Cairenus, from Cairo + -nus (“-ene: forming related nouns”). Equivalent to Cairo + -ene.

The shop, in typical Cairene fashion, was small.

Of or pertaining to Cairo, the capital of Egypt.


Tiberian

Tiberian (comparative more Tiberian, superlative most Tiberian)

more Tiberian (comparative)
most Tiberian (superlative)

From Tiberias, Tiberius, or Tiber + -ian.

Of or relating to Tiberias or the Sea of Tiberias.


khoums

A subdivision of the Mauritanian ouguiya. 5 khoums equal one ouguiya.


protea

Named after Proteus, the Greek warden of sea-beasts, renowned for his ability to change shape.

Any of many South African flowering plants, of the genus Protea, having colourful cone-shaped flower heads.


obeah

en-noun

obeah (countable and uncountable, plural obeahs)

Morant Bay
Oxford English Dictionary
obeah

Uncertain; apparently from a Caribbean creole, probably ultimately from a West African language. The Oxford English Dictionary points to Igbo abià (“knowledge, wisdom”), obìa (“doctor, healer”). Cognate of Aukan obiya, Saramaccan obia, and Sranan Tongo obia.

Although lacking a self-perpetuating institutional structure, Obeah was a crucial element of Afro-Caribbean religions everywhere from Suriname's Maroon societies (communities of runaway slaves) to the Leeward Islands' slave societies.

1997, James D. Rice, “Obeah”, in Junius P. Rodriguez, editor, The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery, volumes II (L–Z), Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 477:

However, quite often it is also applied to protect from obeah spells which the client feels himself or herself to be suffering from. Since obeah can also cast protective spells (e.g., against other obeah spells), it is not entirely correct to dismiss it as an evil practice.

2001, Holger Henke, The West Indian Americans (The New Americans), Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page 89:

Obeah—a set of hybrid or creolized beliefs dependent on ritual invocation, fetishes, and charms—incorporates two very distinct categories of practice. The first involves "the casting of spells for various purposes, both good and evil: protecting oneself, property, family, or loved ones; harming real or perceived enemies; and bringing fortune in love, employment, personal or business pursuits"[…]. The second incorporates traditional African-derived healing practices based on the application of considerable knowledge of herbal and animal medicinal properties.

2011, Margarite Fernández Olmos, Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert, “Obeah, Myal, and Quimbois”, in Creole Religions of the Caribbean: An Introduction from Vodou and Santería to Obeah and Espiritismo, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y., London: New York University Press, →ISBN, page 155:

A form of folk magic, medicine or witchcraft originating in Africa and practised in parts of the Caribbean.


Seychellois

Someone from the Seychelles, or of Seychellois descent.

Seychellees

Someone from the Seychelles of Seychellois descent


teff

teff (countable and uncountable, plural teffs)

Eragrostis tef
Eragrostis tef#Translingual

A love grass, Eragrostis tef, with small seeds, grown as a cereal and for forage in Ethiopia and parts of Arabia.


Near East

The region located south of Eastern Europe, comprising Anatolia, Transcaucasia, the Levant, and Mesopotamia.


butut

A unit of currency, worth one hundredth of a Gambian dalasi.


thebe

A subdivision of currency, equal to one hundredth of a Botswanan pula.


South African English

A dialect of English spoken in South Africa and in neighbouring countries.

südafrikanisches Englisch (Südafrikanisches Englisch n)


kobo

How much would those ones drop in his bowl? Tattered, dirty, sellotaped five-naira notes? Those coins that had just been reintroduced but were useless, because not even bàbá dúdú was sold for fifty kobo or one naira anymore? Was one naira actually money if you could not even buy sweets with it?

2023, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, A Spell of Good Things, Canongate Books, page 182:

A subdivision of currency, equal to one hundredth of a Nigerian naira.


praetor

From Middle English pretour, pretor, from the Anglo-Norman pretour, pretore, the Middle French preteur (from the Old French pretor; compare the Modern French préteur), and their etymon, the Classical Latin praetor (“leader”, “commander”, “magistrate”); the Latin praetor being contracted from *praeitor (“one who goes before”), from praeeō (“I go before”), from prae (“before”) + eō (“I go”); compare the Italian pretore, the Portuguese pretor, and the Spanish pretor.

der

prætor [16th–19th centuries, now archaic]

pretor [15th–17th centuries, 20th century–present]

(history) The title designating a Roman administrative official whose role changed over time:

(originally) A consul in command of the army.

praetor peregrīnus
praetor peregrinus#Latin

(after 366 BC) An annually-elected curule magistrate, subordinate to the consuls in provincial administration, and who performed some of their duties; numbering initially only one, later two (either of the praetor urbānus (“urban praetor”) or the praetor peregrīnus (“peregrine praetor”)), and eventually eighteen.

(historical, translating Italian "pretore") The title of the chief magistrate, the mayor, and/or the podestà in Palermo, in Verona, and in various other parts of 17th- and 18th-century Italy.


Wilberforce

From Old English Wilburg + foss (“ditch”); Wilburg was a female given name from wil (“will”) + burg (“fortress”).

A neighbourhood of Freetown, Sierra Leone.


Saharan

en-adj

Saharan (comparative more Saharan, superlative most Saharan)

more Saharan (comparative)
most Saharan (superlative)


Saharan

A central element in the settlement proposals is the identification and registration of all Western Saharans eligible to vote in the referendum.

2005, Erik Jensen, Western Sahara: Anatomy of a Stalemate, page 147:


bantustan

From a Bantu language (ultimately from Proto-Bantu *bantʊ̀ (“people”)) + -stan (“home of”, suffix of Persian origin), after place names such as Hindustan.

affix

(originally South Africa, historical) Any of ten former territories defined as homelands for black South Africans under apartheid policy

bantoestan

territory defined as a homeland for black South Africans


Springboks

The South African national rugby union team.


Plateau

A state of Nigeria in the North Central geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Jos.


Congo-Brazzaville

From Congo + Brazzaville to distinguish it from its neighbour, Congo-Kinshasa.

A country in Central Africa. Capital: Brazzaville.


Congo-Kinshasa

From Congo + Kinshasa to distinguish it from its neighbour, Congo-Brazzaville.

A country in Central Africa. Capital: Kinshasa.


bozal

From Spanish bozal (“recently-imported slave; noseband”). Doublet of bossale and bosal.

bossale

slave born in Africa, especially in a French colony

(historical) A (black) slave recently brought to a (European, especially Spanish) colony from Africa.


bozal

(historical) Of a slave, recently brought to a colony from Africa.


Janjaweed

Borrowed from Arabic جَنْجَوِيد (janjawīd), from Persian جنگوی (jangavi, “warrior”), influenced by Arabic جَوَاد (jawād, “horse”).

bor+

Hilal has admitted recruiting local Janjaweed militias for the government, but denies personal involvement in the scorched-earth campaign that has driven more than two million people from their homes and seen more than 200,000 people die.

2008 January 22, Xan Rice, The Guardian:

An Arab militia force in Darfur, western Sudan, which has been in conflict with various Darfur rebel groups.


Zambesi

A river in Southern Africa, which has its source in Zambia and flows into the Indian Ocean.


Zambezi

A river in Southern Africa, flowing south and west from Zambia through east Angola and Zambia and then east along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe into and through central Mozambique to the Indian Ocean.


Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

(historical) The official name of Libya from 1977-2011.

Jamahiriya Arabe Libyenne

the official name of Libya from 1977-2011


United Republic of Tanzania

the United Republic of Tanzania (canonical)

The official name of Tanzania, a country in East Africa.


Fano

An ethnonationalist Amhara militia and former protest movement in Ethiopia.


Portuguese East Africa

A former colony of Portugal in East Africa, now called Mozambique.


Spanish Guinea

A former colony of Spain in Central Africa, now called Equatorial Guinea.


French Sudan

(historical) A former colony of France in Africa, now called Mali.


Nyasaland

(historical) A former colony of the United Kingdom in Africa, now called Malawi.


Portuguese Guinea

(historical) A former colony of Portugal in West Africa, now called Guinea-Bissau.


French Somaliland

A former colony of France in Africa, now called Djibouti.


Togoland

(historical) A former German protectorate in Africa, in what is now Togo


Gold Coast

(historical) A former colony of the United Kingdom in Africa, consisting of what is now Ghana.


Rhodesia

British South Africa Company
Cecil Rhodes
Rhodesia (disambiguation)

From Rhodes + -ia, after Cecil Rhodes, director of the British South Africa Company.

If you did that in Rhodesia, you could be punished with many years in prison.

2006, Tsitsi Dangarembga, The Book of Not, Faber & Faber Limited (2021), page 158:

(historical) A former country in Southern Africa, in what is now Zimbabwe, originally called Southern Rhodesia, named after its founder, Cecil Rhodes.


Northern Rhodesia

Named after British colonizer Cecil Rhodes.

named-after

(historical) A former protectorate of the United Kingdom, existing from 1911 to 1964, now called Zambia.


Southern Rhodesia

(historical) A former colony of the United Kingdom; a name used to refer to the area now called Zimbabwe, officially introduced in 1901. A self-governing colony of Britain from 1923, its government began to refer to itself simply as Rhodesia in 1964, when Northern Rhodesia became Zambia. The name Zimbabwe was adopted in 1980.


Nollywood

After the film was released, the actor Nkem Owoh became part of the 'Big Five' (ie the five most well-paid actors in Nollywood).

2009, Pierre Barrot, Nollywood: The Video Phenomenon in Nigeria, Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 23:

Nollywood films are defined by excess, where the borders that frame the images, the sentiments, the characters—the symbolic order and its limits—are violated dramatically and systematically, as in the mannerism of the neobaroque.

2013, Kenneth W. Harrow, Trash: African Cinema from Below, Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 244:

Video parlors, which are still the most popular outlet for Nollywood film screenings across Africa, do not run African auteur films, and the film festivals of Ouagadougou, Carthage, Durban, and Zanzibar do not accept Nollywood films into their main competitions.

2013, Matthias Krings, Onookome Okome, “Nollywood and Its Diaspora: An Introduction”, in Matthias Krings, Onookome Okome, editors, Global Nollywood: The Transnational Dimensions of an African Video Film Industry, Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 19:


African Union

A multinational organisation consisting of 54 African nations.


Numidia

From Latin Numidia, from Numida + -ia, from an earlier interpretation of Ancient Greek Νομάς (Nomás) (genitive Νομάδος (Nomádos)). Compare Latin Nomas, whence English nomad.

Massinissa made many inward parts of Barbarie and Numidia in Africk (before his time incult and horrid) fruitful and battable by this means.

1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy:

An ancient Berber kingdom located in northern Africa.


Mauritian Creole

The creole language spoken in Mauritius, stemming from French, with some vocabulary from diverse sources such as English and Portuguese.


duumvirate

From Latin duumvirātus, from duumvir + -ātus. Equivalent to duumvir + -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office, here the group of people involved with it).

af

(historical) Any of several offices of the Roman Republic held by two joint magistrates known as duumvirs.


Serengeti

/ˌsɛɹənˈɡɛti/


Sierra Leonean

en-adj

Sierra Leonean (comparative more Sierra Leonean, superlative most Sierra Leonean)

more Sierra Leonean (comparative)
most Sierra Leonean (superlative)


Cabo Verde

Borrowed from Portuguese Cabo Verde (literally “green cape”), from cabo (“cape”) + verde (“green”).

bor+

Synonym of Cape Verde: an archipelago and country in West Africa.


Drusilla

Latin Drusilla, feminine diminutive form of the cognomen Drusus.

And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 24:24:


Nubian

An inhabitant of ancient Nubia or a person of Nubian descent.


Nubian

en-adj

Nubian (comparative more Nubian, superlative most Nubian)

more Nubian (comparative)
most Nubian (superlative)

Pertaining to Nubia, its people or its language.

нубі́йскі

pertaining to Nubia, its people or its language

(now largely obsolete) Pertaining to Africa, and its people or language.


Ciskei

From Afrikaans Ciskei, analyzable in English as cis- + Kei (in reference to the Great Kei River; hence literally “on this side of the Kei River”, as opposed to Transkei.

(historical) A former bantustan in the southeast of South Africa, formed in 1961, declared independent in 1981, and reintegrated in 1993.


Aurelius

Would the name Marcus Aurelius have meant anything to him? In all probability, he would have thought it a fancy name for a black slave.

1992, Anne Rice, The Tale of the Body Thief, Arrow Books, →ISBN, page 169:

A male given name from Latin; of mostly historical use in the Anglo-Saxon world.


Ganda

Now Kirabo understood why the Ganda considered the selling of family land an abomination. But then again, after Amin’s regime, which had left the Ganda desperately impoverished, things were changing.

2020, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, The First Woman, Oneworld Publications, page 394:

A member of the ethnic group of Uganda who speak the Luganda language.


Swazi

From Zulu iSwazi, after the name of an early chief, Mswati. The alternative forms come from Swazi liSwati.

A person from Swaziland/Eswatini or of Swazi/Swati descent originally migrating from Central Africa.


Horn of Africa

A peninsula in East Africa, jutting into the Guardafui Channel.


bosal

From Spanish bosal, variant of bozal (“noseband; slave”). (The sense "noseband" is specifically via Mexican Spanish and was originally found in the Southwestern US.) Doublet of bozal and bossale.

At about the same time Christian Georg Andreas Oldendorp, a Moravian missionary in the Danish West Indies, recorded that some Kongos on the island performed "a certain type of baptism on the bosals [recently arrived slaves] who desire it."

2009, Bernard Bailyn, Patricia L Denault, Soundings in Atlantic History, page 108:

(uncommon) Alternative form of bozal or bossale (slave born in Africa and recently brought to a colony).


Kalahari

A large desert in Southern Africa, including much of Botswana, and part of Namibia and Northern Cape, South Africa.


Valerius

"Here you are!" said George, pointing with his cigar. "Cato - Publius Valerius by Virgil out of Lydia. That's what you want. Publius Valerius is Christian enough."
Dartie, on arriving home, had informed Winifred. She had been charmed. It was so 'chic'. And Publius Valerius became the baby's name, though it afterwards transpired that they had got hold of the inferior Cato. In 1890, however, when little Publius was nearly ten, the word 'chic' went out of fashion, and sobriety came in; Winifred began to have doubts. They were confirmed by little Publius himself, who returned from his first term at school complaining that life was a burden to him - they called him Pubby. Winifred - a woman of real decision - promptly changed his school and his name to Val, the Publius being dropped even as an initial.

1920 John Galsworthy, The Forsyte Saga: In Chancery:I: Chapter 2

A male given name from Latin of mostly historical use in English.


Ugandan affairs

/juːˌɡændən əˈfɛəz/

Probably a variant of Ugandan discussions (“(UK, euphemistic, informal) sexual intercourse”), from discuss Uganda (“(UK, euphemistic, informal) to have sex”), said to have been coined by the English journalist and poet James Fenton (born 1949), based on a 1973 incident at a party at which the Irish journalist Mary Kenny (born 1944) explained why she was in the arms of a former Ugandan cabinet minister by saying they were “upstairs discussing Uganda”. The incident was reported by the British satirical and current affairs magazine Private Eye on 9 March 1973, which then popularized the expression by using it to refer to other sexual affairs.

Everyone known about them now; Rosemary has even been mentioned in Private Eye as "discussing Ugandan affairs with a gorgeous young American don."

1984, Alison Lurie, chapter 5, in Foreign Affairs, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, published November 1985, →ISBN, page 171:

'You sure they're not … er … discussing Ugandan affairs?' Rhona asked, citing the old euphemism for illicit sex.

1998, Cathy Kelly, chapter 13, in She’s the One, London: Headline Publishing Group, published 2011, →ISBN:

The fact that his [George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe's] "heavy workload" included many discussions of Ugandan affairs just shows how prescient Private Eye was when it adopted the phrase as a euphemism for the sexual indiscretion of politicians at least 15 years later.

2004 January 1, Alan Travis, “Call girls, drugs and Ugandan affairs shook cabinet: Ministers in the Heath government had to quit”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-12-01:

She [Margaret Thatcher] had been baffled by what Private Eye referred to as "Ugandan affairs" in relation to [Cecil] Parkinson's affair with Sarah Keays,^([sic – meaning Sara Keays]) saying: "I know it's untrue. He's never been to Africa."

2016 January 25, “Lord Parkinson – obituary: Thatcherite star whose career faltered after revelations of an affair with his former secretary”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:

(British, euphemistic, humorous) Often in the form to discuss Ugandan affairs: sexual intercourse, usually an extramarital affair.

BBC News
James Fenton
Mary Kenny
Private Eye


Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

en-proper noun

the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

جمهوريَة أثيوبيا الفدراليَة الديمقراطيَة

Federale Democratische Republiek Ethiopië

Etióp Szövetségi Demokratikus Köztársaság

Poblacht Dhaonlathach Chónaidhme na hAetóipe

សាធារណរដ្ឋប្រជាធិបតេយ្យសហព័ន្ធអេត្យូពី

sa thea rak nak roth bro jea thib tai sak hak pourn ei tyo pi

Republica Federală Democratică a Etiopiei


Republic of Mozambique

The official name of Mozambique (a country).


Islamic Republic of Mauritania

the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (canonical)


umchwasho

A traditional chastity rite in Eswatini, during which unmarried women must abstain from sex and wear a set of tassels.


malva pudding

From malva in reference to the hue of the crust; compare mauve.

(South Africa) A sweet spongy pudding from South Africa made with apricot jam.


Sagan

Alternative form: Segan

I had resolved to pass along the eastern shore of Lake Ganjule, in order to solve the problem of the sources of the river Sagan, the largest affluent of Lake Stefanie, which was supposed to flow out of Lake Ganjule. This I found to be not the case. The sources of the Sagan lie east of the south end of Lake Abaya. But there is a broad channel connecting Lake Ganjule with the Sagan.

1904, Oscar Neumann, From the Somali Coast Through Southern Ethiopia to the Sudan, U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 784:

A town in southern Ethiopia, named for the river.


injera

en-noun

injera (countable and uncountable, plural injeras)

/ˈɪn.dʒiːɹə/

Borrowed from Tigrinya እንጀራ (ʾənǧära) or Amharic እንጀራ (ʾənǧära).

In Ethiopia, a volcanic pepper and spice seasoning, berbere, is widely used, and the stews called wats are eaten with a spongy flat bread, injera.

1987 July 29, Steven Barboza, “Culinary Delights of Africa Reflect a Continent's Diversity”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

The tang of fresh injera coats the air above her head.

2019, Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King, Canongate Books (2020), page 190:

A pancake-like flatbread made from fermented teff flour, a traditional food of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, and the Nuer people of Sudan.


Abia

From an acronym of four most populated towns in the state at its creation, Aba, Bende, Isuikwuato, and Afikpo. Afikpo is now in Ebonyi state.

A state of Nigeria in the South East geopolitical zone. Capital: Umuahia. Largest city: Aba.

Aba, Nigeria
Afikpo
Bende, Nigeria
Isuikwuato


Cyrene

From Latin Cyrene, from Ancient Greek Κυρήνη (Kurḗnē), of uncertain origin. Classical sources considered the Thessalian demigod the etymon for the Libyan city. Modern scholars variously derive the name from the Libyan spring Κύρα (Kúra) or, noting the myth attested before the spring or city, consider an existing Proto-Berber name to have been conflated with the Thessalian myths by early Greek colonists.

(historical) A former city near Shahhat, Libya.


Vespasian

Titus Flavius Vespasianus
w:Titus Flavius Vespasianus

a Roman cognomen, notably borne by Titus Flavius Vespasianus, the Roman emperor from AD 69 to 79


Cyrenaicism

This reads like an avowal of Epicureanism or of the more selfish philosophy of pleasure known as Cyrenaicism.

1882 August, Contemporary Review, p. 214

(usually derogatory) Synonym of hedonism, particularly (ethics, chiefly historical) the specific beliefs of the philosophical school of Aristippus of Cyrene, advocating pursuit of sensual pleasure as the highest good.


praetorship

/ˈpɹiːtəʃɪp/

The same night, wherein the Pretorship was refused him, he passed over in play.

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 28, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

(history) The office or term of a praetor.


Arab Republic of Egypt

Calque of Arabic جُمْهُورِيَّة مِصْر الْعَرَبِيَّة (jumhūriyyat miṣr al-ʕarabiyya).

calque

جُمْهُورِيَّة مِصْر الْعَرَبِيَّة

The official name of the country of Egypt.


Mau Mau

A group of anti-British insurgents in colonial Kenya, active in the 1950's

Mau-Mau

a group of anti-British insurgents in colonial Kenya


Dakarois

"This dictator-view is available to anyone who can afford the $7 it costs to ride the elevator at the base of the African Renaissance Monument. That sum, unfortunately, rules out most Dakarois."

2017, Daniel Howden, A North Korean Folly, in the Heart of Senegal:


qafiz

From Arabic قَفِيز (qafīz), from Aramaic קְפִיזָא and Classical Syriac ܩܦܝܙܐ (qəp̄īzā), of uncertain derivation from Egyptian, Akkadian, and similar units. Doublet of cahiz and cafiso. Cognate with Ancient Greek καπίθη (kapíthē).

der

Aramaic קְפִיזָא

(historical) A traditional Arab unit of volume, varying over time, place, and substance measured.

قَفِيز

Traditional Arab unit of volume or its various medieval equivalents


Diocletian

From Latin Dioclētiānus, Latinate form of Ancient Greek Διοκλῆς (Dioklês). The Roman emperor was named so after his home town of Dioclea in Illyricum.

Roman cognomen, particularly borne by the Roman emperor Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus (245-313).


IBSA

(politics, economics) Initialism of India, Brazil and South Africa.


Hadrian's Wall

A fortification of stone and timber built by the Roman Empire across the width of what is now northern England.


UDI

Initialism of unilateral declaration of independence.


principate

en-noun

principate (countable and uncountable, plural principates)

Learned borrowing from Latin prīncipātus, referring to the titles prīnceps senātūs (“first among senators”) and prīnceps cīvitātis (“first among citizens”), adopted by Octavian Caesar Augustus in order to preserve the illusion of formal continuance of some aspects of the Roman Republic.

lbor

Coordinate term: dominate

1967, Richard Alexander Bauman, The Crimen Maiestatis in the Roman Republic and Augustan Principate, Witwatersrand University Press.:

The history of the courts and of judicial procedure during the principate is closely parallel to that of the government as a whole.

1972, H. F. Jolowicz, Barry Nicholas, A Historical Introduction to the Study of Roman Law, 3rd edition, Cambridge University Press, page 395:

The transition from republic to Principate brought a new and potent factor into the legal picture of the Roman state, the princeps or emperor.

1978, A. Arthur Schiller, Roman Law: Mechanisms of Development, Walter de Gruyter (Mouton Publishers), page 463:

1996, Clare Krojzl (translator), Sebastian Hensel, III: From Diocletian to Alaric [1886, lecture notes], Theodor Mommsen (editor), A History of Rome Under the Emperors, C.H.Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Republished 2005, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), eBook, page 317,
The dominate of Diocletian and Constantine differs more sharply from the principate than the latter does from the Republic.

In the introductory chapter I had already started to examine how Tacitus' designation of the Augustan regime as a versus status potentially draws a line of continuity between the principate and the civil wars which that regime claims to have resolved.

2000, Ellen O'Gorman, Irony and Misreading in the Annals of Tacitus, Cambridge University Press, page 23:

(Ancient Rome) The early period of the Roman Empire, during which some characteristics of the government of the Roman Republic were retained; the reign of any particular emperor during said period.


Antonine

Of or pertaining to the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius (86-161) or his reign or of the emperors in his dynasty

antonino

of or pertaining to the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius


Voltaic

Of or pertaining to Burkina Faso, previously known as Upper Volta.


eparchy

Via Late Latin eparchia from Koine Greek ἐπαρχία (eparkhía, “province; prefecture”), from Ancient Greek ἔπαρχος (éparkhos, “commander, governor; prefect, eparch”) from ἐπι- (epi-, “on, upon; over”) + ἀρχός (arkhós, “ruler”); equivalent to epi- + -archy.

af

Eastern Roman Empire
Eastern Roman Empire

Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire

(historical, Ancient Greece, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire) A provincial government or office headed by an eparch in the Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire (akin to a prefecture governed by a prefect in the Latin-speaking Western Roman Empire)

Ancient Greece; Byzantine Empire; Ancient Greece; Byzantine Empire


Spanish Sahara

(historical) The territory of Western Sahara


Julio-Claudian

of or relating to the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which ended with the death of Nero in the year 68 AD


Julio-Claudian

Someone from the Julio-Claudian dynasty.


Flavian

From the Latin Flaviānus, from Flavius + -ianus.

of or pertaining to the Flavian Dynasty, between the years 69 and 96 AD


Flavian

Someone who lived during the Flavian Dynasty.


Tripolitanian

An inhabitant or native of Tripolitania.


shilingi

Borrowed from Swahili shilingi, from English shilling.

A unit of currency in East Africa, currently only in use by Tanzania, and divided into 100 senti.


Upper Voltan

(historical) From Upper Volta (previous name of Burkina Faso).


Upper Voltan

Coordinate term: Burkinabe

(historical) A person from Upper Volta (previous name of Burkina Faso).


Strait of Sicily

A strait between Sicily and Tunisia, part of the Mediterranean Sea.


Strait of Gibraltar

A strait between Spain and Morocco, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.


Kemetism

Neopagan revivals of Ancient Egyptian religions.


Mozambique Channel

A strait in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and Mozambique


Belgian Congo

(historical) A Belgian colony in Africa, the successor to King Leopold II of Belgium's Congo Free State and predecessor of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


Southern Sudanese

Of, from, or relating to, Southern Sudan


Uhuru Torch

A torch used as one of the national symbols of Tanzania, symbolizing freedom and light.


South Sudan

desc

→ Japanese: 南スーダン (Minami Sūdan) (calque)

Republic of South Sudan
Republic of South Sudan#English

A country in East Africa. Official name: Republic of South Sudan, formerly the southern part of Sudan.


BRICS

As shown by the BRICS expansion and the long waiting list to join, Xi’s offer of an alternative world order is finding receptive ears in the Global South, where many countries feel themselves marginalized in an international system they see as dominated by the US and its wealthy allies.

2023 August 28, “BRICS expansion is a big win for China. But can it really work as a counterweight to the West?”, in CNN:

(geopolitics, economics) Acronym of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa: an international economic organization comprising these fast-growing economies.


cœmeterium

An unadapted adoption of the Latin coemētērium. Doublet of cemetery.

After the rediscovery and opening of the other cœmeteria, the name belonging to this one cœmeterium was applied to all.

1913, Charles George Herbermann &al. [eds.] of the Knights of Columbus Catholic Truth Committee, The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, volume 3, Encyclopedia Press, page 418:

An ancient cemetery, churchyard, or burial ground.


Nasserism

An Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

نَاصِرِيَّة

an Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser


khedive

From French khédive, from Ottoman Turkish خدیو (ḫediv, ḫıdiv), from Persian خدیو (xadêw, xedêw, “lord, master, king”), from Bactrian χοαδηο (xoadēo, “lord”).

bor

The title of the hereditary monarch of Egypt from 1805–1914, nominally ruling as a viceroy of the Sultan of Turkey.


Slave Coast

The coastal areas of present-day Togo, Benin, and western Nigeria, once an important export centre for the Atlantic slave trade.


Ethiopic

en-adj

Ethiopic (comparative more Ethiopic, superlative most Ethiopic)

more Ethiopic (comparative)
most Ethiopic (superlative)

From Latin aethiopicus, from Ancient Greek Αἰθιοπικός (Aithiopikós). By surface analysis, Ethiop + -ic.


Porroh

"[…] You don't seem to understand that this Porroh hokey-pokey rules this country, is its law, religion, constitution, medicine, magic. […]"

1895, H. G. Wells, Pollock and the Porroh Man:

Each Porroh man is entitled to have their services free, on giving the head of tobacco. For instance, if this Porroh was in session at Freetown, and I was living twenty miles off, I could send to the head of the Porroh and ask to be helped in this way.

1899, Report by Her Majesty's Commissioner and correspondence on the Subject of the Insurrection in the Sierra Leone Protectorate:

The men of Ribbee and Bompeh, as well as the Caulkers of Bompeh were Porroh men, and Porroh is considered a society of peace.

2010, Imodale Caulker-Burnett, The Caulkers of Sierra Leone, page 174:

A tribal system of religion and taboos in Sierra Leone.


Monrovian

Monrovian (comparative more Monrovian, superlative most Monrovian)

more Monrovian (comparative)
most Monrovian (superlative)

Of or pertaining to Monrovia, capital city of Liberia.


Monrovian

A native or inhabitant of Monrovia, capital city of Liberia.


South Sudanese

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-South Sudanese.wav

From South Sudan + -ese, after Sudanese.

A person from South Sudan or of South Sudanese descent.


quinquevirate

From Latin quīnquevirātus, from quīnquevirī (“quinquevirs”) + -ātus (“-ate”).

An official group of five people, especially a council of five men sharing office or rule.


duodecimvirate

/ˌdjuːəʊdɛˈsɪmvɪɹət/

From Latin duodecimvirātus, from duodecimvir + -ātus. Equivalent to duodecimvir + -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office, here the group of people involved with it).

af

Strabo ſeems to ſay, there were fronting theſe halls, (which Diodorus likewiſe ſeems to diſtinguiſh from the labyrinth, ſtyling it the work of the Duodecimvirate) 27 other halls.

1789, William Williams, Primitive History, from the Creation to Cadmus, page 482:

It is essential to [Stalin] and to his duodecimvirate that open war shall be avoided or postponed for as long as possible.

1948, The Contemporary Review, CLXXIV, page 184:

The Tricameron…comprised…a “Senate”…and a “Praetorate,” a sort of quadruple troika or duodecimvirate: twelve men and women who implemented the Senate’s decrees, declared war or peace, and…spent most of the time squabbling amongst themselves for power.

1984, Diane Duane, My Enemy, My Ally, page 22:

It would appear that the duodecimvirate was held after the praetorship, but before the consulate.

1996, Michael Peachin, Iudex vice Caesaris, page 135:

The logs of each member of the covert duodecimvirate displayed identical readouts.

2008, Michael Somers, Galactic Exodus, page 73:

(uncommon) A group of twelve people, especially (politics) a council of twelve men sharing office or rule, particularly such groups of magistrates in ancient Rome.


Taraba

A state of Nigeria in the North East geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Jalingo.


Lupercalia

(historical) An ancient Roman pastoral festival observed in mid-February to avert evil spirits and purify the city.


Caligulan

en-adj

Caligulan (comparative more Caligulan, superlative most Caligulan)

more Caligulan (comparative)
most Caligulan (superlative)

From Caligula + -an, named after Roman Emperor Caligula (12 CE–41 CE).

named-after

Of or pertaining to Caligula (AD 12–41), Roman Emperor.


decemvirate

From Latin decemvirātus, equivalent to decemvir + -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office).

af

A group of ten people, especially (politics) a council of ten men sharing office or power and particularly (historical) the groups of ten men who reformed and codified Roman law circa 450 BCE.


dodrans

(historical, numismatics) A bronze coin of the Roman Republic, worth three quarters of an as.


Neronian

en-adj

Neronian (comparative more Neronian, superlative most Neronian)

more Neronian (comparative)
most Neronian (superlative)

/nɪˈɹəʊnɪən/

Of or pertaining to the Roman emperor Nero, notorious for debauchery and barbarous cruelty.


Republic of Zaire

Democratic Republic of the Congo#English

The official name of Zaire until 1997, now Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Republiek Zaïre

official name of Zaire from 1965 to 1997


Republic of Equatorial Guinea

the Republic of Equatorial Guinea (canonical)

Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea#English

جُمْهُورِيَّة غِينِيَا الاِسْتِوَائِيَّة


Republic of The Gambia

The official name of The Gambia (1965-2016).


Togolese Republic

The official name of Togo, a country in West Africa.


Federal Republic of Nigeria

the Federal Republic of Nigeria (canonical)

جُمْهُورِيَّة نيِجِيرِيَا الاِتِّحَادِيَّة


Republic of Côte d'Ivoire

the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (canonical)


Kingdom of Swaziland

The official name of Eswatini until 19 April 2018.


State of Eritrea

The official name of Eritrea, a country in East Africa.


Kano

A state of Nigeria in the North West geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Kano City.


People's Democratic Republic of Algeria

en-proper noun

the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria

Calque of Arabic الْجُمْهُورِيَّة الْجَزَائِرِيَّة الدِّيمُقْرَاطِيَّة الشَّعْبِيَّة (al-jumhūriyya l-jazāʔiriyya d-dīmuqrāṭiyya š-šaʕbiyya)

calque

al-jumhūriyya l-jazāʔiriyya d-dimuqrāṭiyya š-šaʕbiyya

quṭnāyūtā gazzāˀīrnāytā dīmuqrāṭāytā ˁammāytā

ܩܘܼܛܢܵܝܘܼܬܵܐ ܓܲܙܵܐܝܼܪܢܵܝܬܵܐ ܕܝܼܡܘܼܩܪܵܛܵܝܬܵܐ ܥܲܡܡܵܝܬܵܐ

Alžiri Žoġovrdakan Žoġovrdavarakan Hanrapetutʻyun

Ալժիրի Ժողովրդական Ժողովրդավարական Հանրապետություն

Aljeriako Herri Errepublika Demokratikoa

Alžýrskaja Naródnaja Demakratýčnaja Respúblika

Алжы́рская Наро́дная Дэмакраты́чная Рэспу́бліка

Alžírská demokratická a lidová republika

République démocratique et populaire d’Algérie

République algérienne démocratique et populaire

República Democrática e Popular de Alxeria

Daon-Phoblacht Dhaonlathach na hAilgéire

Repubblica Algerina Democratica e Popolare

República Argelina Democrática e Popular

Republica Algeriană Democratică și Populară

Alžírskaja Naródnaja Demokratíčeskaja Respúblika

Алжи́рская Наро́дная Демократи́ческая Респу́блика

Alžírska demokratická a ľudová republika

República Argelina Democrática y Popular

สาธารณรัฐประชาธิปไตยประชาชนแอลจีเรีย

sǎa-taa-rá-ná-rát bprà-chaa-tí-bpà-dtai bprà-chaa-chon ɛl-jii-riia

Alžýrsʹka Naródna Demokratýčna Respúblika

Алжи́рська Наро́дна Демократи́чна Респу́бліка


Republic of South Africa

the Republic of South Africa (canonical)

The official name of South Africa, a country in Southern Africa.

南アフリカ共和国

みなみアフリカきょうわこく


iraimbilanja

A currency unit of Madagascar, equal to one fifth of an ariary.


vigintivirate

From Latin vīgintivirātus, from vīgintivirī (“vigintivirs”) + -ātus (“-ate”).

A group of twenty people, especially (politics) a council of twenty men sharing an office or rule and particularly (historical) such an administrative council in ancient Rome.


Portuguese Congo

(historical) A former colony of Portugal in Africa, now forming the Cabinda province of Angola.


Unas

2004: "The passages were eventually separated and categorized, as well as illustrated and eventually evolved into the Book of the Dead, or more properly, 'The Book of the Coming forth by Day'. The oldest of these text come from that Pyramid of Wenis, or more popularly these days, Unas at Saqqara." — Ancient Egyptian Texts

2005: "Unas (Wenis) reigned at the end of Dynasty V, for a period of up to 30 years." — Pyramid and mortuary temple of Unas

An Egyptian pharaoh of the fifth dynasty


Ghawazi

From Arabic غَوَازِي (ḡawāzī) (singular غَازِيَة (ḡāziya)) meaning "conqueror", i.e. conquering the hearts of the audience.

bor

Arabic غَوَازِي (ḡawāzī)

A group of Egyptian dancing girls of the Nawar people, whose suggestive dancing was seen as improper.


centumvirate

From Latin centumvirātus, from centumvirī (“centumvirs, centumviri”) + ātus (abstract noun-forming suffix). Equivalent to centumvir + -ate (forms nouns denoting a rank or office, here the group of people performing it).

af

A group of one hundred people, especially (politics) a council of about 100 men who share power or rule, particularly (historical) such a group in ancient Rome.


Cyrenian

en-adj

Cyrenian (comparative more Cyrenian, superlative most Cyrenian)

more Cyrenian (comparative)
most Cyrenian (superlative)


Cyrenaic

Cyrenaic (comparative more Cyrenaic, superlative most Cyrenaic)

more Cyrenaic (comparative)
most Cyrenaic (superlative)

From Latin Cyrenaicus, from Ancient Greek Κῡρηνᾰῐ̈κός (Kūrēnaïkós), from Κῡρηναῖος (Kūrēnaîos, “Cyrenian, n.”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic: forming adjectives”), from Κυρήνη (Kurḗnē, “Cyrene”) + -ιος (-ios, “-y: forming demonyms”), q.v. Equivalent to Cyrene + -ic or a backformation from Cyrenaica.

(chiefly historical) Of or related to Cyrenaicism, the philosophical school founded by Aristippus of Cyrene and codified by Aristippus the Younger.

(chiefly historical) Synonym of Cyrenaican, of or related to Cyrenaica, the area around Cyrene in northeastern Libya.


Cyrenaic

(chiefly historical) A member or adherent of Cyrenaicism, the philosophical school founded by Aristippus of Cyrene and codified by Aristippus the Younger.

(chiefly historical) Synonym of Cyrenaican, a person of or from Cyrenaica, the area around Cyrene in northeastern Libya.


woreda

An administrative division of Ethiopia, managed by a local government.


walk like an Egyptian

en-verb

walk like an Egyptian (third-person singular simple present walks like an Egyptian, present participle walking like an Egyptian, simple past and past participle walked like an Egyptian)

walks like an Egyptian (present singular third-person)
walking like an Egyptian (participle present)
walked like an Egyptian (participle past)
walked like an Egyptian (past)

Such figures are sometimes depicted in this pose in ancient Egyptian art.

“Get ready for pharaohs, pyramids and walking like an Egyptian.” He held bent arms in front and behind him. A laugh bubbled through the room as Mac walked back to his desk and found his Egypt teaching plan.

2008, Patricia S. Otto, The Gelidus Factor, page 28:

(simile, humorous) To walk with one arm horizontally at the side, with arm bent at the elbow facing up, and the other arm horizontally at the side with arm bent at the elbow facing down.


Ogun

A state of Nigeria in the South West geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Abeokuta.


Kaduna

A state of Nigeria in the North West geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Kaduna City.


Ogoniland

The region of southeastern Nigeria inhabited by the Ogoni people.


Príncipe

From Portuguese Príncipe, from príncipe (“prince”), after the Prince of Portugal, from Latin prīnceps (“leader”).

São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe

an island which forms part of São Tomé and Príncipe


discuss Uganda

discuss Uganda (third-person singular simple present discusses Uganda, present participle discussing Uganda, simple past and past participle discussed Uganda)

discusses Uganda (present singular third-person)
discussing Uganda (participle present)
discussed Uganda (participle past)
discussed Uganda (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-discuss Uganda.wav

Coined by Private Eye in reference to an alleged tryst between journalist Mary Kenny and a politician, after which Kenny claimed she was merely "upstairs discussing Uganda".

IMHO she just devalues the rest of us who want to be judged by what we do and what we are, not how we look and who we discuss Uganda with.

1995 April 27, Helen Gerald, “Re: Liz Hurley”, in rec.arts.tv.uk (Usenet), message-ID <1bd766f1e95e31fd>:

If both [doors] are closed (leaving a small gap between them, that is) it means the occupant is away, studying hard and not wishing to be disturbed, discussing Uganda with a member of the opposite sex (or even, fwankly Wupert, the same one), or enduring a hangover from hell [...]

2007, Benedict Le Vay, Eccentric Cambridge, →ISBN, page 257:

The antipasto often features fettunta—thin slices of Tuscan bread toasted and salted (the bread itself is unsalted) and perhaps rubbed with garlic (you may prefer to rub it on for yourself, or not if you're due to discuss Uganda or have an interview with Silvio Berlusconi)

2009, Nicholas Belfrage, The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy, →ISBN, page 312:

(UK, informal, euphemistic) To have sex.


Dongola

The original form was Tungul, possibly from Old Nubian ⲧⲟⲩⳟ (touŋ, “to be secure”), hence fortress.

The capital of the state of Northern Sudan.


Severan

en-adj

Severan (comparative more Severan, superlative most Severan)

more Severan (comparative)
most Severan (superlative)

Of or relating to the Ancient Roman emperor Septimius Severus.

severiano

of or relating to the Ancient Roman emperor Septimius Severus


Kinshasan

Kinshasan (comparative more Kinshasan, superlative most Kinshasan)

more Kinshasan (comparative)
most Kinshasan (superlative)

Of or relating to Kinshasa, capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


Capetonian

From Cape Town (with town changed to -ton) + -ian.

Of, from, or pertaining to Cape Town, South Africa.


Nero

Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

Any male member of the family Claudii Nerones, within the gens Claudia into which emperor Nero was adopted by emperor Claudius.

"Nero Wolfe. It's his house and he lives here." "That's an odd name. Nero Wolfe? What does he—Is he a lawyer?"

1963, Rex Stout, Trio for Blunt Instruments, Random House LLC, published 2010, →ISBN:

A male given name from Latin, more common in fiction than in real life.


Sinaic

Sinaic (comparative more Sinaic, superlative most Sinaic)

more Sinaic (comparative)
most Sinaic (superlative)

Sinaic law... Sinaic covenant... Sinaic code...

Synonym of Sinaitic, of or related to Mount Sinai, Egypt.


Cerealia

/sɛɹɪˈeɪlɪə/

/ˌsɛɹɪˈɑːlɪə/

/ˌsɛɹɪˈeɪlɪə/

The club of Marlott alone lived to uphold the local Cerealia. It had walked for hundreds of years, and it walked still.

1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 12:

(history) A festival in Ancient Rome, celebrated on the 10th of April, for the grain goddess Ceres.


Fezzan

Borrowed from Arabic فَزَّان (fazzān), from Latin Phazānia.


Equatoguinean

Equatoguinean (comparative more Equatoguinean, superlative most Equatoguinean)

more Equatoguinean (comparative)
most Equatoguinean (superlative)


Equatoguinean

We have already seen, in Chapter II, that Equatoguineans like Ilonbe and Loboch imply that they feel imprisoned.

2007, Emily Ann Knudson-Vilaseca, Embodying the Un/home: African Immigration to Portugal and Spain:

Many of the Equatoguineans I met referred to this group as "monkey counters" and wondered out loud why anyone would want to go around counting monkeys.


begena

A type of lyre of Ethiopian and Eritrean origin with a rectangular soundbox and ten strings, which is played with a plectrum.


Southern Sudan

(historical) South Sudan: A former region in Sudan, which gained independence as South Sudan.


Jubaland

From Juba + -land. From the Jubba River. Analogous with Puntland.

An autonomous regional state in southern Somalia.


White Nile

One of the two main tributaries of the River Nile in Africa, which starts in Lake No and flows into the Nile at Khartoum.


Theodosius

From Latin Theodosius, from Ancient Greek.


Abidjanian

Of or pertaining to Abidjan, the largest city of Côte d'Ivoire.


Bongo Bongo Land

/ˌbɒŋɡəʊ ˈbɒŋɡəʊ lænd/

/ˌbɑŋɡoʊ ˈbɑŋɡoʊ lænd/

(dated, derogatory, offensive) The Third World countries, especially those in Africa.


Kemet

Borrowed from Egyptian kmt (“Egypt”):
km-m-t:O49


mehalek

(historical) A former currency of Abyssinia.


Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (canonical)

A country in North Africa, a partially recognised state in Western Sahara.

al-jumhūriyya l-ʕarabiyya ṣ-ṣaḥrāwiyya d-dimuqrāṭiyya

اَلْجُمْهُورِيَّة اَلْعَرَبِيَّة اَلصَّحْرَاوِيَّة اَلدِّيمُقْرَاطِيَّة

Saharyjska Arabska Republika Demokratyczna

Saxárskaja Arábskaja Demokratíčeskaja Respúblika

Саха́рская Ара́бская Демократи́ческая Респу́блика

Saxársʹka Arábsʹka Demokratýčna Respúblika

Саха́рська Ара́бська Демократи́чна Респу́бліка


Sokoto

It rains almost everywhere, even in Sokoto, where you can practically smell the Sahara.

2023, Stephen Buoro, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa, Bloomsbury Circus, page 130:

A state of Nigeria in the North West geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Sokoto City.


Bauchi

A state of Nigeria in the North East geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Bauchi City.


DR Congo

Abbreviation of Democratic Republic of the Congo.: A country in Central Africa. Capital: Kinshasa

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo-Kinshasa


Ubangi

A river in Central Africa, the largest right-bank tributary of the Congo River.


Lord's Resistance Army

A Christian fundamentalist group in northern Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo which aims to establish a theocracy based on the Ten Commandments.


Bab el Mandeb

From Arabic بَاب اَلْمَنْدَب (bāb al-mandab), meaning "Gateway (Bab) of anguish", or "Gateway of tears"; the strait derives its name from the dangers attending its navigation, or, according to an Arab legend, from the numbers who were drowned by the earthquake which separated Asia and Africa.

bor

بَاب اَلْمَنْدَب

a strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden


anti-balaka

Central African Republic
Central African Republic

Any of several primarily Christian militias in the Central African Republic.


Sool, Sanaag and Cayn

Just south of the Warsangeli, the Dhulbahante set up the Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (SSC) administration in 2009. This was succeeded by the Khaatumo State of Somalia, founded in the Dhulbahante territories in January 2012.

2017, Markus Virgil Hoehne, “The Rupture of Territoriality”, in Christian Lund, Michael Eilenberg, editors, Rule and Rupture, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 197:

This resulted in a meeting in Nairobi in 2009 during which the Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (SSC) administration was established.

2019, Omar S. Mahmood, “Overlapping claims by Somaliland and Puntland”, in East Africa Report, volume 2019, number 27, Institute for Security Studies, →ISSN, page 6:

For many years Lasanod, the capital of the Sool region of northern Somalia, has been claimed by competing authorities—the Somaliland, Puntland, Khaatumo and Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (SSC) administrations.

2021, Ahmed M. Musa, “Lasanod: City at the margins”, in XCEPT (Cross-Border Conflict Evidence/Policy/Trends), Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, page 7:

An administration in northern Somalia formed by the reer darawiish in 2009, subsequently called the Khatumo State (2012–2017).


Subsahara

letters […] seeking information on emigration to Africa, both north and subSahara.

1982, Patricia Galloway, La Salle and His Legacy: Frenchmen and Indians in the Lower Mississippi Valley, page 82:

[…] Large-scale natural disaster (e.g., drought and famine in Subsahara or Cambodia) […]

1986, Nancy Curry, The Feeling Child: Affective Development Reconsidered, page 116:

IFC also takes an active role in the identification and promotion of projects, especially in Subsahara, the Caribbean and the South Pacfic, […]

1992, National Association of Credit Men (U.S.), Credit Manual of Commercial Laws, page 29:10


Mosi-oa-Tunya

Borrowed from Tonga (Zambia) [Term?], meaning "smoke that thunders".

(neologism) a gold coin introduced in Zimbabwe in 2022 in the context of rising inflation.


Gulf of Aden

A gulf between Yemen and Somalia, connected to the Somali Sea through the Guardafui Channel.


WAMZ

West African Monetary Zone
w:West African Monetary Zone

Initialism of West African Monetary Zone.


Abbay

The name of the upper reaches of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia.

ዐባይ

the name of the upper reaches of Blue Nile in Ethiopia


Transpadane Gaul

As a proper noun, a calque of the Latin Gallia Trānspadāna; the common noun is probably a regularly formed demonym from the proper noun, although it is likely that its formation was prompted by the Latin Gallī Trānspadānī.

(history) Cisalpine Gaul north of the river Po.


Darfuri

en-adj

Darfuri (comparative more Darfuri, superlative most Darfuri)

more Darfuri (comparative)
most Darfuri (superlative)


Trans-Amadi

A neighborhood of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.


Ramciel

From the Dinka language, meaning either "where rhinoceroses meet together" or "central meeting place".


Trajanian

Trajanian (comparative more Trajanian, superlative most Trajanian)

more Trajanian (comparative)
most Trajanian (superlative)

Of or relating to Trajan (53–117 AD), emperor of Ancient Rome from 98 AD until his death.


Durbanite

An inhabitant of Durban in South Africa.


Aristippian

Aristippian (comparative more Aristippian, superlative most Aristippian)

more Aristippian (comparative)
most Aristippian (superlative)

(chiefly historical) Synonym of Cyrenaic, of or related to Aristippus of Cyrene, Aristippus the Younger, or their school of philosophy.


Aristippian

(chiefly historical) Synonym of Cyrenaic, an adherent of Cyrenaicism, the school of philosophy founded by Aristippus of Cyrene and codified by Aristippus the Younger.


Eurafrican

/jəˈɹæfɹəkən/

From Euro- (prefix meaning ‘pertaining to Europe’) + African (adjective, noun), probably modelled after Eurasian. Compare Euroafrican, Euro-African, which are attested earlier.

affix

Of or relating to the continents of, or countries in, both Europe and Africa; having both European and African characteristics.

euro-afrikkalainen

of or relating to the continents of, or countries in, both Europe and Africa; having both European and African characteristics

Of a person: of mixed European and African descent; (specifically, South Africa) synonym of colored (“belonging to a multiracial ethnic group or category, having ancestry from more than one of the racial groups of Southern Africa (black, white, and Asian)”)

eurooppalais-afrikkalainen

of a person: of mixed European and African descent

(anthropology, archaic) Of a person: from the parts of Europe and North Africa surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

Välimereltä

of a person: from the parts of Europe and North Africa surrounding the Mediterranean Sea


Eurafrican

/jəˈɹæfɹəkən/

eurooppalais-afrikkalainen

colored

A person of mixed European and African descent.

(South Africa) Synonym of colored (“a person having ancestry from more than one of the racial groups of Southern Africa (black, white, and Asian)”)


Ethiopianize

en-verb

Ethiopianize (third-person singular simple present Ethiopianizes, present participle Ethiopianizing, simple past and past participle Ethiopianized)

Ethiopianizes (present singular third-person)
Ethiopianizing (participle present)
Ethiopianized (participle past)
Ethiopianized (past)


Moroccanize

Moroccanize (third-person singular simple present Moroccanizes, present participle Moroccanizing, simple past and past participle Moroccanized)

Moroccanizes (present singular third-person)
Moroccanizing (participle present)
Moroccanized (participle past)
Moroccanized (past)


Maio

One of the islands of the Bissagos Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau


Libyanize

Libyanize (third-person singular simple present Libyanizes, present participle Libyanizing, simple past and past participle Libyanized)

Libyanizes (present singular third-person)
Libyanizing (participle present)
Libyanized (participle past)
Libyanized (past)


Tunisianize

Tunisianize (third-person singular simple present Tunisianizes, present participle Tunisianizing, simple past and past participle Tunisianized)

Tunisianizes (present singular third-person)
Tunisianizing (participle present)
Tunisianized (participle past)
Tunisianized (past)

Tunisia further consolidated her independence by establishing an army, securing the partial evacuation of French troops (still garrisoned in certain zones), and Tunisianizing the courts, the civil service, and the radio and television stations.

1958, Cyrus Adler, The American Jewish Year Book - Volume 59 - Page 344


black diamond

en-noun

black diamond (countable and uncountable, plural black diamonds)

conspicuous consumption
conspicuous consumption

(South Africa, derogatory) A member of the new affluent black middle class in South Africa, characterized by conspicuous consumption.


Africology

(humanities) An interdisciplinary academic discipline that studies the history and culture of African people around the world.


Republic of Congo

Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo#English

Alternative form of Republic of the Congo


Congo Free State

(historical) A former kingdom in Central Africa that was ruled by King Leopold II of Belgium as absolute ruler from 1885 until it was annexed by Belgium in 1908. Former name of Democratic Republic of the Congo.


Esanland

The homeland of the Esan people in southwestern Nigeria.


Igboland

Such an action had no parallel anywhere in Igboland.

1965, Chinua Achebe, Arrow of God, Penguin Classics (2010), page 177:

The homeland of the Igbo people in southeastern Nigeria.


fidepromissor

/ˌfaɪdiːpɹəʊˈmɪsɔː(ɹ)/

From Latin fidēprōmissor (“guarantor, surety”), from fidēprōmittō (“make a promise on behalf of another person, stand as guarantor or surety”) + -tor, from fidē (“in faith”) + prōmittō (“promise”).

compound

(historical, law) One who pledges himself as security for another; bail, surety


Nigerianization

The process in which someone or something becomes Nigerian.


Vulcanalia

The Ancient Roman festival of the god Vulcan, celebrated on August 23, during which live fish or small animals were thrown into bonfires as a sacrifice.


Lagosian

en-adj

Lagosian (comparative more Lagosian, superlative most Lagosian)

more Lagosian (comparative)
most Lagosian (superlative)


Lagosian

A native or inhabitant of Lagos in Nigeria.


Riverian

Riverian (comparative more Riverian, superlative most Riverian)

more Riverian (comparative)
most Riverian (superlative)

Of or relating to Rivers State in Nigeria.


Riverian

For industry watchers, Kamatan needed no greater testimony than Sekibo's and Odili's for his administration of the council as Executive Chairman, knowing the great bond between these two Riverians.

2005, Business & Maritime West Africa, volume 3, number 2:

A native or inhabitant of Rivers State in Nigeria.


Rivers State

A state in southeastern Nigeria. Capital: Port Harcourt.

(historical, till 1967) A part of the old Eastern Region of Nigeria that is now Rivers State.


East Africa

The eastern part of the continent of Africa.


hiplife

Up the block at Nananom, a tiny music and sundries store, all the hiplife CDs were sold out.

2015 August 6, Liz Robbins, “Hiplife, a Sound Imported From Ghana, Arrives on a New York Stage”, in New York Times:

A Ghanaian style of music that fuses highlife and hip-hop.


Pretorian

Pretorian (comparative more Pretorian, superlative most Pretorian)

more Pretorian (comparative)
most Pretorian (superlative)

Of, from, or pertaining to Pretoria, South Africa.


Naucratis

From Ancient Greek Ναύκρατις (Naúkratis).

A city in Ancient Egypt, the only permanent Greek colony there.


ploutonion

(historical) A sanctuary dedicated to the Ancient Greek and Roman god Pluto, usually at a location producing poisonous emissions, believed to represent an entrance to the underworld.


Trajan

A Roman emperor who ruled from AD 98 to 117


Transkei

From trans- + Kei (in reference to the Great Kei River in South Africa).

(historical) A bantustan and nominal parliamentary democracy (capital Umtata) in southeastern South Africa.


Epping

en-proper noun

Epping (countable and uncountable, plural Eppings)

From Old English yppe (“upland”) + ing (“meadow”).

An industrial area in Cape Town, Western Cape province, South Africa.


millime

Borrowed from French millime; compare centime.

(historical) A unit of currency equal to one thousandth of an Egyptian pound.


Bir Tawil

From Arabic بِير طَوِيل (bīr ṭawīl) or بِئْر طَوِيل (biʔr ṭawīl, literally “tall water well”).

der

Arabic بِير طَوِيل (bīr ṭawīl)

A region of Africa, along the border between Egypt and Sudan, currently considered as terra nullius. It is declared by Egypt to be Sudanese and Sudan to be Egyptian, and claimed by neither country.

Halaib Triangle

a region claimed by both Sudan and Egypt


MINT

(economics) Acronym of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey.


sassywood

en-noun

sassywood (usually uncountable, plural sassywoods)

From sassy, of unknown (probably African) origin + wood.

refn

From P[aul Hermann Wilhelm] Taubert (1891) Wilhelm Engelmann, editor, Leguminosae (Natürliche Pflanzenfamilien; vol. III, no. 3), Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, →OCLC, figure 75.

The person who is designated as guilty of the crime of witchcraft is arrested by the soldier king, and condemned to the ordeal of sassy-wood. The bark of the sassy-wood is powerfully narcotic, and a strong decoction of this the person condemned is forced to drink; and after he has drank it, he walks to and fro, exclaiming "Am I a witch," "am I a witch?" while one of his executioners walks behind him replying "You are a witch, you are a witch;" and this continues until he either throws off from his stomach the poison, when he is pronounced innocent, or it operates as a cathartic, when he is declared guilty, and compelled to take more of the decoction, and is subjected to other cruelties, which cause his speedy death. […] This ordeal by sassy-wood is one of the most prevalent and cruel of African superstitions, and is practised among nearly if not all the tribes of Africa.

1850 September 14, [James M.] Connelly, “[Appendix G.] Report of the Kroo People”, in Report of the Secretary of State, Communicating the Report of the Rev. R[alph] R[andolph] Gurley, who was Recently Sent Out by the Government to Obtain Information in Respect to Liberia (United States Senate, 31st Congress, 1st session; ex. doc. no. 75), [Washington, D.C.]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 59:

A man named Prince came into the parlor; he spoke broken English, and told Mrs. Payne that his people were going to give him ‘sasa-wood.’ A man had died among his people, and the men bearing the body to the grave ran against his house: they believe that the body influences them to go against the house of him who bewitched or killed the dead man. He (Prince) had gone to another town, and was trying sasa-wood in small quantities; if it does not injure him, he will go to his own town, and take it before his people.

1859, George D[avid] Cummins, “Life at Cavalla”, in Life of Mrs. Virginia Hale Hoffman, Late of the Protestant Episcopal Mission to Western Africa, Philadelphia, Pa.: Lindsay & Blakiston, →OCLC, pages 87–88:

[…] He wondered what sasswood was—Delah had sworn by sasswood that she was telling the truth when the coaxed those in the shadow village out of hiding. Delah explained that many years ago, before the Americos starting intefering in tribal business, trial by sasswood was a way of determining whether a person accused of a crime was innocent or guilty. The bark of a particular tree was mashed to make a "truth serum." If the accused died after drinking the concoction, he was guilty. Refusal to drink was also an indication of guilt, in which case the accused was executed.

2000, James E. Christie, Juju, Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, part III (War), page 423:

The man dipped a machete in a concoction of water, palm oil and kola nuts, held it in fire for several minutes, and then placed it on the right legs of the four suspects. None of the youths – ages 16 to 26 – appeared to flinch. They were deemed not guilty. This practice known as ‘sassywood’ is banned under national law, but is still regarded as a legitimate form of justice by many Liberians. A suspect is subjected to intense pain and judged on his or her reaction – if the hot metal burns the person’s leg, he or she is found guilty. […] According to a rights activist in Nimba County, the problem is that many people will submit to sassywood because they do not know it has been outlawed. “Sassywood is very common here and most people believe that it is the only means of knowing a guilty person,” said Dualo Lor of the church-based NGO Equip-Liberia in Nimba, 300km from Monrovia. “They are not even aware the practice is outlawed.”

2007 November 1, “Trial by ordeal makes the guilty burn but ‘undermines justice’”, in IRIN, archived from the original on 2017-05-06:

A form of trial by ordeal in Liberia, typically involving a suspect drinking a poisonous concoction made from the bark of the ordeal tree Erythrophleum guineense, Erythrophleum ivorense, or Erythrophleum suaveolens (called sassy bark); by extension, other forms of trial by ordeal such as applying a heated machete to the suspect's legs, or dipping the suspect's hand into hot oil.


vine staff

en-noun

vine staff (plural vine staffs or vine staves)

vine staffs (plural)
vine staves (plural)

Calque of Latin vītis (“vine; vine staff”).

cal

(historical) A cane originally made of twisted grapevine trimmings and used by Roman centurions to beat the soldiers under their command; the various mushroom-headed batons later borne by them as a mark of office


centurion's staff

In his right hand [Gaius] carried his centurion's staff, while his left held a rolled parchment, with Pilate's signature, guaranteeing Eleazor's pardon.

2006, Sean Young, Violent Sands, page 67:

Likewise [Marcellus] cast away his Centurion's staff and his arms, further declaring, "From this day forth I make an end of fighting for your Emperors..."

2013, A.R. Allison & al. translating Antonio Gallonio, Torture of the Christian Martyrs, page 65:


gacaca

en-noun

gacaca (countable and uncountable, plural gacacas)

(uncountable) A system of community justice inspired by Rwandan tradition, used more recently in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.


Wakaliwood

(slang, neologism) The developing film industry in Wakaliga, a slum in Kampala, Uganda.


zaalouk

This recipe is my version of the famous aubergine and tomato salad called zaalouk, one of the best of all cooked Moroccan salads. Utterly delicious on slices of warm Berber Griddle Breads (page 110), zaalouk will keep for several days in the refrigerator, getting better and better.

2012, Paula Wolfert, The Food of Morocco:


mafe

An African meat stew thickened with ground peanuts.


Interahamwe

A Hutu paramilitary organization involved in the Rwandan genocide.


Bophuthatswana

(historical) A former bantustan in the northwestern region of South Africa.


Kikuyuland

The area of central Kenya traditionally inhabited by the Kikuyu.


Egyptland

From Middle English Egiptelond, Egipte-lond, from Old English Egipta land, Egypta land (“the land of the Egyptians”), equivalent to Egypt + land. Compare Dutch Egypteland, Icelandic Egyptaland.

Go down, Moses, / Way down in Egyptland / Tell old Pharaoh / To let my people go.

1937, David Adams Leeming, Jake Page, Myths, Legends, and Folktales of America: An Anthology:

It required no stretch of imagination to see the trials of the Israelites as paralleling the trials of the slaves, Pharaoh and his army as oppressors, and Egyptland as the South.

1941, Sterling Allen Brown, Arthur Paul Davis, Ulysses Lee, The Negro caravan: writings by American Negroes:

This was a fortunate development as otherwise work on a new land they were starting at the time, Egyptland, would have been stopped and the whole universe likely destroyed as a result.

2004, R. J. Nimmo, The Ancient Egyptian Ennead:

Two of the numbers, “Alexandria” and “Fatima,” fall into the same “oriental” category as “Egyptland,” but both offer a lot more musical interest.

2004, Bruce Vermazen, That Moaning Saxophone:

(rare, nonstandard) The land of the Egyptians; Egypt


cafiz

(historical) Alternative form of qafiz, particularly in Tunisian contexts


Lamu

An island and the historic town located on it in Kenya.


Angolagate

(informal) A 2008 controversy around arms sales by France to Angola between 1993 and 2000.


Nigerois

Of French construction, Niger + -ois, perhaps to render a clearer distinction from Nigerian.

(nonstandard) A Nigerien; a person from Niger.


Theodosian

en-adj

Theodosian (comparative more Theodosian, superlative most Theodosian)

more Theodosian (comparative)
most Theodosian (superlative)

Of or relating to the Theodosian dynasty of the Roman Empire


tahtib

bor

Arabic تَحْطِيب (taḥṭīb)


sexvirate

From Latin sexvirātus, from sex (“six”) + virī (“men”) + -ātus (“-ate”).

A group of six men, especially (politics) a council of six men who share office or rule, particularly (historical) various such councils in ancient Rome.


quattuorvirate

From Latin quattuorvirātus, from quattuor (“four”) + virī (“men”) + -ātus (“-ate”).

A group of four people, especially a council of four men sharing office or rule.


Ankole

A traditional kingdom, from the 15th century until its abolishment in 1967, in territory that later became part of the country of Uganda.


Bornu

(historical) An independent kingdom (1380-1893), descended from the Kanem–Bornu Empire (700-1380), that covered much of modern Chad and parts of Libya, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon


Cyrenaican

en-adj

Cyrenaican (comparative more Cyrenaican, superlative most Cyrenaican)

more Cyrenaican (comparative)
most Cyrenaican (superlative)

There are more kinds of mice in the Cyrenaican region.

1607, E. Topsell, Historie of Foure-Footed Beastes, page 548:

(chiefly historical) Of or relating to Cyrenaica.


Cyrenaican

Suppose he had taken on the character of a Cyrenaican or a Tripolitanian from some southern oasis.

(chiefly historical) A native or resident of Cyrenaica.


Union of South Africa

(historical) The official English name of the country of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, a former country in Southern Africa and Commonwealth dominion under nominal British sovereignty until it became a republic in 1961.


Hausaland

The lands inhabited by the Hausa people of Africa, chiefly in Nigeria and Niger.


Westgate

en-proper noun

Westgate (countable and uncountable, plural Westgates)

A neighbourhood of Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, South Africa.


The telephone number for law enforcement in Jamaica, Mozambique, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka.

119 handles fires and medical emergencies in Japan and Korea but the police have a separate number, 110.

The telephone number for ambulance services in Cambodia, Cameroon, Colombia, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea and on Taiwan.

The telephone number for COVID-19 emergencies in the United Kingdom's Home Counties.


Like 911, 119, etc., selected as a number both fast and easy to call from rotary or touch-tone phones and less likely to be mistakenly dialed.

110 handles police emergencies in Japan and Korea but fires and medical emergencies have a separate number, 119.

The telephone number for law enforcement in China, Japan, Germany, Indonesia, Latvia, Bolivia, Guatamala, Andorra, Nauru, and the Ivory Coast and on Taiwan.


Walmer

Walmer (countable and uncountable, plural Walmers)

From Old English wealh (“Welshman”), genitive plural weala + mere (“lake, sea”).

A neighbourhood in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.


black Africa

From black (“a dark-skinned person”) + Africa, distinguishing the area from Egypt and the Maghreb. Cf. earlier racist tropes such as darkest Africa.

sub-Saharan Africa
sub-Saharan Africa#English


Kwara

A state of Nigeria in the North Central geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Ilorin.


Katsina

A state of Nigeria in the North West geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Katsina City.


Benue

A state of Nigeria in the North Central geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Makurdi.


imbongi

en-noun

imbongi (plural izimbongi or iimbongi or imbongis)

izimbongi (plural)
iimbongi (plural)
imbongis (plural)

Borrowed from Zulu imbongi and Xhosa imbongi. The plural izimbongi is derived from Zulu, while iimbongi is from Xhosa.

Let us consider the contemporary oral poetry of the Xhosa Bantu[…], and its highest form, the praise-poetry of male tradents, who were attached until recently to tribal chiefs. The tradents are imbongi ‘praise poets’ and the genre of their work is the izibongo ‘praise poem.’ “The lines of the imbongi’s oral izibongo do not display either syllabic or quantitative meter … though there is some reason to believe that one may be able to determine certain recurrent intonational patterns that function as meter” ([Jeff] Opland 1975: 194).

1980, M. O'Connor, “Hebrew Verse Structure”, in Hebrew Verse Structure, Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, published 1997, →ISBN, section 1.7.2 (Constriction in Other Languages), page 157:

[…] Mbutuma and Manisi are both "traditional" iimbongi, but Manisi's oral poetry is more historical than Mbutuma's – so that the bearer of a tradition is an individual creative artist even though he shares attributes with other participants in the tradition. […] Few Xhosa iimbongi today are untouched by urbanization, literacy, and exposure to mass media. How have these forces affected the tradition? To what extent can modern iimbongi be considered traditional?

1983, Jeff Opland, “Change in the Tradition”, in Xhosa Oral Poetry: Aspects of a Black South African Tradition (Cambridge Studies in Oral and Literate Culture; 7), Cambridge, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 234:

In the national figures this bawdy laughter seems hardly ever to be present; it is only slyly winked at once in the King's praises in the "pillow" reference, but on the whole it is suppressed or censored out by successive izimbongi.

1991, Liz Gunner and Mafika [Pascal] Gwala, translators and editors, “Introduction: Izibongo, Power, and the Popular Voice”, in Musho!: Zulu Popular Praises (African Historical Sources; no. 3), East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan State University Press, →ISBN:

Sunday Times Managing Editor, Ray Hartley – a former political correspondent – is brutal about the state of political journalism. He questions the lack of analysis and debate about government policy and dismisses a lot of the writing about President [Thabo] Mbeki and the government as 'hagiography'. While the government may have its media imbongis (praise singers), much of the problem lies with inexperienced political reports and poor newsroom leadership.

2005, Angela Quintal, “Political Reporting”, in Adrian Hadland, editor, Essays on South African Journalism, Cape Town: HSRC Press, published 2006, →ISBN, pages 55–56:

Modern South African film directors and performers as bards, izimbongi or storytellers have only residues of existing 'traditional societies' to bring to the surface. Where primarily oral cultures elaborate their stories within the epic form, fables and extraordinary heroes and fantasies, the izimbongi in The People's Poet and Songololo are more concerned with cultural loss, oppression, colonisation and emancipation.

2006, Keyan G[ray] Tomaselli, “Orality in African Cinema: Reasoning, Representation and Relativism”, in Encountering Modernity: Twentieth Century South African Cinemas (SAVUSA Series; 4), Amsterdam: Rozenberg Publishers; South Africa: UNISA Press, →ISBN, page 92:

Mandhlakazi provided a description of the dress and actions of izimbongi (praise singers) as they recited and performed praises and told Stuart, / I, Mandhlakazi, once asked a son of Magolwana how it was that the Zulu izimbongi were able to remember the praises of kings to so extraordinary a degree[…]. He said it was because they were given always tripe to eat. Moreover, they used to eat the drug umklele, […]

2015, Elizabeth A. Eldredge, “Oral Traditions in the Reconstruction of South African History”, in Kingdoms and Chiefdoms of Southeastern Africa: Oral Traditions and History, 1400–1830 (Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora; 64), Rochester, N.Y.: University of Rochester Press; Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer, →ISBN, page 46:

An interesting exception to the generally formal, apprenticeship-based training assumed for the professions is that of the imbongi, or praise-poet, among groups such as the Zulu and Xhosa in southern Africa. The imbongi is in many ways a unique figure in traditional society; his role is part historian, part counselor, part social and political critic. The imbongi fulfills a role similar to that played by the medieval bard, relying both on the established oral tradition and his own ability to improvise in creating the appropriate izibongo (praise-poem) for the occasion.

2018, Timothy Reagan, “‘A Wise Child is Talked to in Proverbs’: Indigenous Educational Thought and Practice in Africa”, in Non-Western Educational Traditions: Local Approaches to Thought and Practice, 4th edition, New York, N.Y., Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 83:

(chiefly South Africa) A praise singer, a traditional bard in Zulu culture.


Kemite

Blend of Kemet + -ite; perhaps in analogy with Semite.

Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian#English

Synonym of Ancient Egyptian (an inhabitant of Ancient Egypt)


Bolama

One of the islands of the Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau

Capital of the homonymous region, also the most populated place in the Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau


Bubaque

The second most populated place in the Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau


Ishango

Virunga National Park
w:Virunga National Park

A substation of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that is near the city of Goma.


Osun

A state of Nigeria in the South West geopolitical zone. Capital: Osogbo. Largest city: Ife.


Eswatini

→ Japanese: エスワティニ (Esuwatini)

From Swazi eSwatini, the country's native name, declared to also be its official English name on April 19, 2018.

Taiwan's ambassador to the Kingdom of Eswatini, Jeremy Liang (梁洪昇), told the paper that he had just been informed of the situation and that "the matter was being looked into." Liang said he had helped the students process their applications to the university and had not been aware of the conditions of the workplace they were to be assigned to.

2020 May 21, Keoni Everington, “Over 40 Eswatini students duped into skinning chickens in W. Taiwan”, in Taiwan News, archived from the original on 2020-05-25, Society:

Kingdom of Eswatini
Kingdom of Eswatini#English

A country in Southern Africa, formerly called Swaziland. Official name: Kingdom of Eswatini. Capitals: Mbabane and Lobamba.

Eswatini

country in Southern Africa — see also Swaziland


Yolo

a village in the Ségou Region of Mali, West Africa.


Gregory Rift

Named after British geologist John Walter Gregory (1864–1932), who explored the geology of the rift.

(geology) Tthe eastern branch of the East African Rift fracture system, caused by the separation of the Somali plate from the Nubian plate.


Kazembe

a traditional kingdom in modern-day Zambia and southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo; the most organized of the Luba kingdoms


Geta

A Roman emperor who ruled from 209 to 211 C.E..


land of a thousand hills

the land of a thousand hills (canonical)


Caligula

From Latin Caligula, from caliga (“leather boot”) + -ula.

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Roman emperor from 37 to 41 CE.


Diocletianic

the Diocletian persecution

Of or relating to the Roman emperor Diocletian.


Milliongate

A scandal in Sierra Leone in the 1980s, involving the appropriation of millions of leones of government money for private use.


Bissagos

A group of about 88 islands and islets located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the African nation of Guinea-Bissau.


Río Muni

The mainland geographical region of Equatorial Guinea.


Bioko

Named in honor of Equatoguinean politician Cristino Seriche Bioko.

A volcanic island in Equatorial Guinea, located off the coast of Cameroon in the Bight of Biafra.


Nigerian time

(uncountable, sometimes derogatory, slang) A notional system of time which others sometimes derogatorily ascribe to Nigerians, and which they sometimes jocularly ascribe to themselves, to account for their supposed tendency to be leisurely, not rigorous about scheduling, and often tardy.


Save

“I am from the Save River. But I married. To a man from afar, Phiri, from Malawi.”

2018, Tsitsi Dangarembga, This Mournable Body, Faber & Faber (2020), page 232:

A river in southeastern Africa that flows about 400 km (250 mi) from south of Harare in Zimbabwe, through Mozambique, to the Indian Ocean.


Ogadenia

A proposed state seeking secession from Ethiopia.


Daraawiish

(historical) A mostly Dhulbahante anti-colonial state and kingdom in the Horn of Africa that existed from 1896 until 1921.


Oromia

Oromia is home to over 40 million people, predominantly from the Oromo people.

The largest and most populous region in Ethiopia, covering an area of approximately 353,006 square kilometers.


Medri Bahri

(historical) An Eritrean kingdom that existed from the 15th century until the 19th century.


East African Federation

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo

A proposed sovereign state that would unite Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.


Afaria

The transitional government in Ethiopia has been concerned that FRUD could link with the older Afar Liberation Front (ALF) in Ethiopia and Eritrea with its dream of a separate "Afaria".

1993, Africa Insight - Volumes 23-24, page 15:

The outbreak of ethnic violence in 1991 severely strained Djiboutian-French Relations. Paris, which had deployed troops in March to disarm Ethiopian soldiers fleeing into Djibouti, dismissed the government's claims that Ethiopian Afars were seeking to establish a “greater Afaria” and in October ordered its troops to remain in their barracks.

2015, Tom Lansford, Political Handbook of the World 2015, →ISBN:

For instance, in the Afaria region of Ethiopia (Afaria is situated close to Ethiopia-Somalia and Ethiopia-Kenya borders) there is a sustained standoff between tigrai-amhara organizations (Tigrai Liberation National Front and Afar Liberation Front).

2016, Sai Felicia Krishna-Hensel, Order and Disorder in the International System, →ISBN, page 124:


The Call of South Africa

Calque of Afrikaans Die Stem van Suid-Afrika

calque

a former national anthem of South Africa, created during the 1920s and used from the 1930s to the 1990s.


Sou'frican

If it wasn't for the Sou'frican Plan, I have no doubt, we'd all be slouching and moaning right now.

2006, Max Brooks, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, page 104:


Oranje, Blanje, Blou

When we went to a rugby game in Cape Town, we saw some Springbok supporters waving the Oranje, Blanje, Blou flag.

A former national flag of South Africa, used from 1928 to 1994, during the apartheid era.


Apartheid South Africa

From Afrikaans apartheid + South Africa.

2002, John M. Allen, Growing Up White in Apartheid South Africa, →ISBN:

(exonym, colloquial) South Africa from 1948 to 1991, when the apartheid policy was in force (some definitions may include pre-1948 and extend it to 1994).


Amharia

The historical territories and homeland of the Amhara tribe.


Tswanadom

The influence of Tswana culture and politics in Botswana.


Great Rift Valley

(geology) The continuous system of rift valleys in the East African Rift.


Demotic

Regarding the ranges of these palaeographic areas, the terms mentioned might again be misleading to a nonadept, who, for example, has to know that the Delta is mostly uncharted territory in regard to Demotic palaeography (due to the lack of sources from this area).

2020, Vanessa Davies, Dimitri Laboury, The Oxford Handbook of Egyptian Epigraphy and Palaeography, page 611:

The demotic Egyptian script, used from c. 650 BCE to 452 CE.

(linguistics) The demotic Egyptian language, spoken from c. 650 BCE to 400 BCE.


Ethiopian cross

en-noun

Ethiopian cross (plural Ethiopian crosses)

An elaborate, stylized version of the Christian cross symbol that is unique to Ethiopia and Eritrea.


en-proper noun

People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

(history) A former country in East Africa, a communist government that existed in Ethiopia from 1987 to 1991.

Etiopijos Liaudies Demokratinė Respublika


People's Republic of Mozambique

(history) A former country in East Africa, a communist state that existed from 1975 to 1990.


People's Republic of Benin

(history) A former country in West Africa, a socialist state that existed in the Gulf of Guinea from 1975 to 1990.


People's Republic of Angola

(history) A former country in West Africa, a self-declared socialist state that existed from 1975 to 1992.


People's Republic of the Congo

(historical) A former country in Central Africa, a socialist state that existed from 1969 to 1992.


Oilgate

A South African political scandal in which the petrol company Imvume Holdings was accused of paying millions of state money to the ruling African National Congress shortly before elections.


Botswanian

Botswanan; a person from Botswana or of Botswanan descent.


Botswanian

en-adj

Botswanian (comparative more Botswanian, superlative most Botswanian)

more Botswanian (comparative)
most Botswanian (superlative)

Botswanan; of, from, or pertaining to Botswana, the Botswanan people or the Botswanan language.


Upper Voltaic

(historical) From Upper Volta (previous name of Burkina Faso).


Sudans

Sandra Calkins, Enrico Ille and Richard Rottenburg Civic orders in the Sudans are wanting. They do not achieve what they are meant to achieve on their own, and it is always a bit of a puzzle why exactly one thing is accomplished instead of ...

2014, Calkins, Sandra, Ille, Enrico, Emerging Orders in the Sudans, Langaa RPCIG, →ISBN, page 1:


quindecimvirate

From Latin quīndecimvirātus, from quīndecimvirī (“quinquevirs”) + -ātus (“-ate”).

(uncommon) A group of fifteen people, especially (politics) a council of fifteen men sharing office or rule, particularly such groups of magistrates in ancient Rome.


vigintisexvirate

From Latin vīgintisexvirātus, from vīginti (“twenty”) + sex (“six”) + vir (“man”) + -ātus (“-ate”).

A group of twenty-six men, especially (politics) a council of twenty-six men who share office or rule, particularly (historical) various such councils in ancient Rome.


Johannesburger

By using a midget, skin-tight car of the kind made in Italy the Johannesburger might save himself much tribulation, but he likes large and glittering things, and would rather toil round his city in vain search of a place to put his supercharged, supergrinning Mammalac than use a baby car.

1949, Douglas Reed, Somewhere South of Suez: A Further Survey of the Grand Design of the Twentieth Century, page 48:

A Johannesburger will seldom ask a visitor what he thinks of the city.

1978, Johannesburg: The Cosmopolitan City, page 7:

All Refilwe knew was that Lerato was a Johannesburger.

2001, Phaswane Mpe, Welcome to Our Hillbrow: A Novel of Postapartheid South Africa, Ohio University Press, →ISBN, page 81:


Severus

An ancient Roman cognomen, notably that of Septimius Severus.

Sévère

an ancient Roman cognomen, notably that of Septimius Severus


Elagabalus

ĕl'əgăbʹələs

/ˌɛləˈɡæbələs/

From Latin Elagabalus. The emperor is named for the deity, whose name is from an Arabic name whose elements are إِلٰه (ʔilāh, “god”) and Arabic جَبَل (jabal, “mountain”).

Elagabalus, who was a Sun-god and the patron deity of Emesa, was worshipped […]

1958, Ivar Lissner, Power and Folly: The Story of the Caesars:

Obviously, they hoped to conceal the failure of their unhappy experiment in emperorship before, when they stressed the priesthood of Syrian Emesa's main deity Elagabalus as the key factor […]

2019, Elias Koulakiotis, Charlotte Dunn, Political Religions in the Greco-Roman World, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN, page 111:

The deity Elagabal, venerated in ancient times at Emesa in Syria (and later elsewhere in the Roman Empire), identified with a large black stone.


chittim

en-noun

chittim (countable and uncountable, plural chittims)

Louisa brought four chittims (about a halfpenny).

1898, Children's Missionary Magazine of the United Presbyterian Church:

Eno whispered to her to take chittims and pay for her nuts.

1909, Beatrice W. Welsh, An African Girl: The Story of Ma Eno, page 53:

It is also on record that brass rods (worth 6d each) and chittims (worth ¼d each) were used in Efik, Uruan, Oron and the Cross River countries during this period.

1990, Stella Attoe, A Federation of the Biase People:


Ambazonia

Coined by Cameroonian attorney and political activist Fongum Gorji Dinka in 1985 (see quotation below).

coinage

If the expression “Southern Cameroons” has exposed us to any annexationist ambitions, then we will henceforth call ourselves AMBAZONIA.

1985 March 20, Fongum Gorji Dinka, “The New Social Order”, in Retyped from Ambazonian Archives (PDF), archived from the original on 2024-05-10, page 8:

An internationally unrecognized Anglophone state which is claimed by Cameroon.


Orango

One of the islands of the Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau


Porto Inglês

From Portuguese Porto Inglês "English Port" where once the English (or the British) used for exporting salt from the mid-18th to the 19th or the early 20th century.

Former name of Cidade do Maio, though it is colloquially still uses


Caravela

One of the 88 islands of the Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau


Aristippan

en-adj

Aristippan (comparative more Aristippan, superlative most Aristippan)

more Aristippan (comparative)
most Aristippan (superlative)

(chiefly historical) Alternative form of Aristippian, of or related to Aristippus of Cyrene or Aristippus the Younger.


Aristippan

(chiefly historical) Alternative form of Aristippian, an adherent of Cyrenaicism, the school of philosophy founded by Aristippus of Cyrene and codified by Aristippus the Younger.