See matatu in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for matatu meaning in English (6.0kB)
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "sw",
"3": "matatu"
},
"expansion": "Swahili matatu",
"name": "bor"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sw",
"2": "mapeni matatu",
"lit": "three ten-cent coins",
"nocap": "1",
"nocat": "1",
"t": "thirty cents"
},
"expansion": "clipping of mapeni matatu (“thirty cents”, literally “three ten-cent coins”)",
"name": "clipping"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sw",
"2": "",
"3": "matatu"
},
"expansion": "matatu",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "prefix"
},
"expansion": "prefix",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "plural"
},
"expansion": "plural",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sw",
"2": "ma-",
"pos": "prefix forming plurals"
},
"expansion": "ma- (prefix forming plurals)",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sw",
"2": "tatu",
"3": "-tatu",
"4": "three"
},
"expansion": "-tatu (“three”)",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "bnt-pro",
"3": "*-tátʊ̀",
"t": "three"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Bantu *-tátʊ̀ (“three”)",
"name": "der"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Borrowed from Swahili matatu, a clipping of mapeni matatu (“thirty cents”, literally “three ten-cent coins”) (the flat fare paid for such transportation in the 1960s). The word matatu is from ma- (prefix forming plurals) + -tatu (“three”) (from Proto-Bantu *-tátʊ̀ (“three”)).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "matatus",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "matatu",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "+",
"2": "matatu"
},
"expansion": "matatu (plural matatus or matatu)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"ma‧ta‧tu"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Kenyan English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Ugandan English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Road transport",
"orig": "en:Road transport",
"parents": [
"Transport",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Vehicles",
"orig": "en:Vehicles",
"parents": [
"Machines",
"Transport",
"Technology",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "matatu culture"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1982, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements Habitat News",
"text": "A matatu is also more profitable when driven by its owner than by an employed driver, or if the employee-driver pays in all the earnings and the owner meets the operating costs, rather than when the owner demands a fixed sum of money daily, with the operator keeping the surplus.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2010, Philo Ikonya, Leading the Night, page 102",
"text": "For now, matatus made lanes along both sides of tarmac main roads and went over, around or through potholes depending on their speed.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2017, Kenda Mutongi, Matatu: A History of Popular Transportation in Nairobi, page 98",
"text": "Memories of their sense of trepidation, or even the anger, aboard a matatu could still be visceral.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2024 January 13, David Pilling, “Revenge of the moderators”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 15",
"text": "The roads were jammed with matatu minibuses sporting cartoonish liveries, and trucks billowing black smoke into the dazzling African light.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A minivan used as a share taxi, especially one operating without a licence."
],
"hypernyms": [
{
"word": "share taxi"
}
],
"id": "en-matatu-en-noun-Ynxfu3wH",
"links": [
[
"minivan",
"minivan"
],
[
"used",
"use#Verb"
],
[
"share taxi",
"share taxi"
],
[
"operating",
"operate"
],
[
"licence",
"licence#Noun"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Kenya, Uganda) A minivan used as a share taxi, especially one operating without a licence."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "makanga"
},
{
"word": "manamba"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"english": "Tanzania",
"word": "daladala"
},
{
"tags": [
"Sheng",
"slang"
],
"word": "mathree"
}
],
"tags": [
"Kenya",
"Uganda"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"word": "matatu"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"word": "reittitaksi"
},
{
"code": "sw",
"lang": "Swahili",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"tags": [
"Kenya"
],
"word": "matatu"
},
{
"code": "sw",
"lang": "Swahili",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"tags": [
"Sheng"
],
"word": "moshogi"
},
{
"code": "sw",
"lang": "Swahili",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"tags": [
"Sheng"
],
"word": "shedhi"
},
{
"code": "sw",
"english": "Tanzania",
"lang": "Swahili",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"word": "daladala"
},
{
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "matatu",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"word": "матату"
},
{
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "matrej",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"word": "матрей"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/məˈtætuː/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/məˈtɑˌtu/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-matatu.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/38/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-matatu.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-matatu.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/38/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-matatu.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-matatu.wav.ogg",
"tags": [
"Southern-England"
],
"text": "Audio (Southern England)"
},
{
"audio": "Sw-ke-matatu.flac",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d0/Sw-ke-matatu.flac/Sw-ke-matatu.flac.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d0/Sw-ke-matatu.flac/Sw-ke-matatu.flac.ogg",
"tags": [
"Kenya"
],
"text": "Audio (Kenya)"
}
],
"word": "matatu"
}
{
"categories": [
"sw:Road transport",
"sw:Vehicles"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "matatu culture"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "sw",
"3": "matatu"
},
"expansion": "Swahili matatu",
"name": "bor"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sw",
"2": "mapeni matatu",
"lit": "three ten-cent coins",
"nocap": "1",
"nocat": "1",
"t": "thirty cents"
},
"expansion": "clipping of mapeni matatu (“thirty cents”, literally “three ten-cent coins”)",
"name": "clipping"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sw",
"2": "",
"3": "matatu"
},
"expansion": "matatu",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "prefix"
},
"expansion": "prefix",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "plural"
},
"expansion": "plural",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sw",
"2": "ma-",
"pos": "prefix forming plurals"
},
"expansion": "ma- (prefix forming plurals)",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sw",
"2": "tatu",
"3": "-tatu",
"4": "three"
},
"expansion": "-tatu (“three”)",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "bnt-pro",
"3": "*-tátʊ̀",
"t": "three"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Bantu *-tátʊ̀ (“three”)",
"name": "der"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Borrowed from Swahili matatu, a clipping of mapeni matatu (“thirty cents”, literally “three ten-cent coins”) (the flat fare paid for such transportation in the 1960s). The word matatu is from ma- (prefix forming plurals) + -tatu (“three”) (from Proto-Bantu *-tátʊ̀ (“three”)).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "matatus",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "matatu",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "+",
"2": "matatu"
},
"expansion": "matatu (plural matatus or matatu)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hypernyms": [
{
"word": "share taxi"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"ma‧ta‧tu"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "makanga"
},
{
"word": "manamba"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English 3-syllable words",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English indeclinable nouns",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English nouns with irregular plurals",
"English terms borrowed from Swahili",
"English terms derived from Proto-Bantu",
"English terms derived from Swahili",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with quotations",
"Kenyan English",
"Swahili terms with audio links",
"Ugandan English",
"en:Road transport",
"en:Vehicles"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1982, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements Habitat News",
"text": "A matatu is also more profitable when driven by its owner than by an employed driver, or if the employee-driver pays in all the earnings and the owner meets the operating costs, rather than when the owner demands a fixed sum of money daily, with the operator keeping the surplus.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2010, Philo Ikonya, Leading the Night, page 102",
"text": "For now, matatus made lanes along both sides of tarmac main roads and went over, around or through potholes depending on their speed.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2017, Kenda Mutongi, Matatu: A History of Popular Transportation in Nairobi, page 98",
"text": "Memories of their sense of trepidation, or even the anger, aboard a matatu could still be visceral.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2024 January 13, David Pilling, “Revenge of the moderators”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 15",
"text": "The roads were jammed with matatu minibuses sporting cartoonish liveries, and trucks billowing black smoke into the dazzling African light.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A minivan used as a share taxi, especially one operating without a licence."
],
"links": [
[
"minivan",
"minivan"
],
[
"used",
"use#Verb"
],
[
"share taxi",
"share taxi"
],
[
"operating",
"operate"
],
[
"licence",
"licence#Noun"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(Kenya, Uganda) A minivan used as a share taxi, especially one operating without a licence."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"english": "Tanzania",
"word": "daladala"
},
{
"tags": [
"Sheng",
"slang"
],
"word": "mathree"
}
],
"tags": [
"Kenya",
"Uganda"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/məˈtætuː/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/məˈtɑˌtu/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-matatu.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/38/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-matatu.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-matatu.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/38/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-matatu.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-matatu.wav.ogg",
"tags": [
"Southern-England"
],
"text": "Audio (Southern England)"
},
{
"audio": "Sw-ke-matatu.flac",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d0/Sw-ke-matatu.flac/Sw-ke-matatu.flac.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d0/Sw-ke-matatu.flac/Sw-ke-matatu.flac.ogg",
"tags": [
"Kenya"
],
"text": "Audio (Kenya)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"word": "matatu"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"word": "reittitaksi"
},
{
"code": "sw",
"lang": "Swahili",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"tags": [
"Kenya"
],
"word": "matatu"
},
{
"code": "sw",
"lang": "Swahili",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"tags": [
"Sheng"
],
"word": "moshogi"
},
{
"code": "sw",
"lang": "Swahili",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"tags": [
"Sheng"
],
"word": "shedhi"
},
{
"code": "sw",
"english": "Tanzania",
"lang": "Swahili",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"word": "daladala"
},
{
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "matatu",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"word": "матату"
},
{
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "matrej",
"sense": "minivan often used as a share taxi",
"word": "матрей"
}
],
"word": "matatu"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-09 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (4d5d0bb and edd475d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.