moochi, noun

Forms:
moochie, moucheShow more Also moochie, mouche, mouchi, muchi, mutshi.
Origin:
IsiZuluShow more Englished form of isiZulu umutsha, see mutsha.
In traditional African dress: a. mutsha sense a. b. A square of beads worn by women as a loin-covering; mutsha sense b; also transferred sense, see quotation 1971.
1878 H.A. Roche On Trek in Tvl 324A wee little Kafir boy, with nothing upon him but his ‘moochie’, or tails.
1882 W.R. Ludlow Zululand & Cetewayo 37Garga had on a mouche, or apron, made of catskins, round his waist.
1899 G.H. Russell Under Sjambok 29Except for the ordinary Kafir mouchi, he wore no clothing. [Source Note: Some calico or skins hung round the loins.]
1909 N. Paul Child in Midst 139Presently he appeared..with no clothing except a cow-hide mutshi, with flaps around his waist, and pieces of bamboo stuck through his ears. [Source Note: Loin-girdle.]
1936 Williams & May I Am Black 76Fat belly protruding above the thong of the leather moochi.
1957 H.J. May in S. Afr. P.E.N. Yrbk 1956–7 46Not even the usual native blanket to cover his little body; only a little grubby moochi.
1970 Rand Daily Mail 29 Oct. 12Beaded ‘muchi’ R3.50.
1971 Daily Dispatch 14 July 5Moochies, which were first worn as loincloths by tribal women, have graduated to bead the necks of sophisticated fashion-conscious women around the world.
1975 Sunday Times 6 Apr. 4Does this mean that harbouring Michelangelo’s Boy David without a moochi will be a sign of communist infiltration..?
1979 C. Endfield Zulu Dawn 15The swaying beads of the tiny G-string moochies she and her sister dancers wore.
A square of beads worn by women as a loin-covering; mutsha sense b; also transferred sense, see quotation 1971.
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18781979