tu noun
1.
a member of any of several Negroid peoples forming a linguistically and in some respects culturally interrelated family in central and southern Africa.
2.
a grouping of more than 500 languages of central and southern Africa, as Kikuyu, Swahili, Tswana, and Zulu, all related within a subbranch of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Kordofanian family.
adjective
3.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Bantu or the Bantu peoples.
Related forms
non-Ban·tu, noun, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To Bantu
Collins
World English Dictionary
Bantu (ˈbɑːntʊ, ˈbæntuː, bænˈtuː) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n , -tu, -tus | |
| 1. | a group of languages of Africa, including most of the principal languages spoken from the equator to the Cape of Good Hope, but excluding the Khoisan family: now generally regarded as part of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo family |
| 2. | taboo (South African) a Black speaker of a Bantu language |
| —adj | |
| 3. | denoting, relating to, or belonging to this group of peoples or to any of their languages |
| usage Use of the term Bantu is only acceptable outside South Africa and when talking about this group of languages and their speakers. To refer to African people or peoples, the terms Black and African are acceptable within South Africa | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Bantu
is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
Bantu
1862, applied to south African language group by W.H.I. Bleek, from native Ba-ntu "mankind," from ba-, plural prefix + ntu "a man, person."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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