Mosotho, noun

/ˌmɔˈsuːtu/, /məˈsuːtu/
Forms:
α. Masutu, MoshootooShow more singular Masutu, Moshootoo, Mosuthu, Mosuto, Msutu; singular and plural Basuto, Basutu; plural Basatos, Bashootoo, Bashuta, Bashutas, Bassutos, Basuta, Basutas, Basutoos, Basutos;
β. Mosotho, MosothuShow more singular Mosotho, Mosothu, Musotho; plural Basotho, Basothos.
Plurals:
usually Basotho.
Origin:
SothoShow more Sotho, perhaps a hlonipha substitute for motho human being; or singular noun prefix mo- (plural ba-) + sootho brown one (see Sotho). For notes on singular and plural forms, see mo- and ba-.
Note:
See note on pronunciation and forms at Sotho.
A member of the South Sotho people, most of whom are resident in the Kingdom of Lesotho; South(ern) Sotho, see Sotho sense 1 c. Also attributive, passing into adjective.
Note:
‘Basotho’ now usually refers to the Sotho people of Lesotho (formerly Basutoland), and ‘Sotho’ to the Sotho-speaking people of South Africa (see Sotho); in many 19th century texts ‘Basuto’ is used to refer to South Sothos living in South Africa.
Note:
Although α forms with -sutu are still used, especially ‘Basutu’, the β forms ‘Mosotho’ and ‘Basotho’ are now the most widely accepted. See also combinations formed on the word ‘Basotho’.
α.
1828 J. Philip Researches II. 82This unfortunate man (the chief of the Bashootoo tribe..) relates, that his town was unexpectedly attacked by a large party of men on horseback.
1835 A. Smith Diary (1940) II. 278The Matabeli apply the term Bashutu to all black nations not of their description.
1835 G. Champion Jrnl (1968) 11The station..is among the Bassouto, the people whose chief took with him a thousand head of cattle in order to purchase a miss[ionar]y, as related by Dr. Philip.
1837 F. Owen Diary (1926) 71The Izinseezu or young soldiers who were sent out against the Busutoos returned yesterday, not having found their foe.
a1838 A. Smith Jrnl (1975) II. 55On hearing of his success the half-starved Moshootoo was all anxiety for a feast, and nothing would satisfy him but a visit to the spot where the quagga lay dead in order to secure some of the meat.
1841 B. Shaw Memorials 257Arrangements having been made with the chief of the Bashutas, for the cession of the territory selected, the people and missionaries, migrated with their flocks and possessions, to Thaba Unchu.
1855 J.W. Colenso Ten Weeks in Natal p.xxvA desperate battle took place in the year 1852 between the forces under Sir George Cathcart and the great Basuto chief, Moshesh, who has 60 000 people under his rule.
1871 J. McKay Reminisc. 256The Basutos, numbering thousands, poured from kloofs and krantzes upon the scene, with apparent determination to defend their stock.
1895 J. Widdicombe In Lesuto 27A Mosuto and a Mochuana will understand one another without much difficulty, but a Mosuto and a Zulu find it very hard, in fact almost impossible, to converse together, so greatly have the two dialects diverged as time has gone on.
1900 H.C. Hillegas Oom Paul’s People 246The Basutos, east of the Orange Free State, now the most powerful and the only undefeated nation in this country, would hardly allow a war to be fought unless they participated in it.
1905 W.H. Tooke in Flint & Gilchrist Science in S. Afr. 92The ba-Suto were originally ba-Kwena according to their chief Moshesh, who..collected the waifs and strays of fugitive clans escaping from Tshaka, and by the force of his rare intellectual qualities welded them into a homogenous nation, formidable once to Boer and British, but now wealthy and prosperous.
1911 Farmer’s Weekly 18 Oct. 193No wonder a ‘boy’ who has worked in a town will not go onto a farm, yet the Mosuto for one would choose the farm every time if he were guaranteed half the wages and as good treatment.
1923 G.H. Nicholls Bayete! 96The Kings of the Amandabele, the Basuta, the Amazulu, the Amaswazi, and all the others — are they mad?
1930 S.T. Plaatje Mhudi (1975) 119The Basutos inflicted upon the raiding Matabele such a severe punishment that they ran down the mountains..and when after a very long run they halted for a rest, they were overtaken by a number of Basuto driving a herd of bullocks.
1941 C.W. De Kiewiet Hist. of S. Afr. p.viiI have..not hesitated to use a correct plural like Basuto side by side with an anglicized plural form like Zulus.
1949 C. Bullock Rina 37My Basuto were very anxious to make a long stay at the big kraal on the slopes of the mountain.
1949 L. Hunter Afr. Dawn 162Here Mayeza (now to be known as Simon) found that one of his neighbours, also a new student, was a Msutu.
1949 A. Paton Cry, Beloved Country 28She is a Msutu, but she speaks Zulu well.
1950 G. Tylden Rise of Basuto p.xThe language is Sesuto, belonging to the prefix-pronominal group of languages, the country being called Lesuto and the people Basuto, of which the singular is Mosuto.
1955 W. Illsley Wagon on Fire 21A Mosuto youth, swathed in a vivid red blanket, was barely thirty feet distant.
1957 A.A. Murray Blanket 18‘You are a heathen, Lepotane.’ ‘I am a Mosuto.’ ‘And I am a Christian.’ ‘I say that you too are a Mosuto.’...‘It is not impossible to be both. Many of the Basuto follow the Christian faith.’
1960 J. Cope Tame Ox 98She was black, or more nearly a dark, dull, earth colour, a Mosuto girl.
c1976 H. Flather Thaba Rau 38He had always found the Basutos pleasing to the eye, in their colourful blankets, with wavy patterns in blue, green, pink and purple.
1980 J. Cock Maids & Madams 205Four passes were issued to women in their independent capacities: Zumba aged 30 and Hugiva aged 23 from Eno’s tribe; Aliena aged 13 a ‘Masutu’ and Sibaku aged 20 a Bechuana.
β.
1953 P. Lanham Blanket Boy’s Moon 13Monare the Mosotho walked along the street briskly, humming to himself a song of the Basotho people.
1953 P. Lanham Blanket Boy’s Moon (Glossary)Basotho, Basuto — plural of Mosotho; is used as Noun or Adjective..; members of the Basuto race.
1961 R.A. Paroz Sn Sotho-Eng. Dict. p.iiMabille was in due time to become a great friend of the Basotho, a Mosotho at heart.
1961 R.A. Paroz Sn Sotho-Eng. Dict. p.ix[This book] is dedicated to the Basotho of the South, Moshoeshoe’s Basotho, both within the borders of Basutoland itself and outside of them.
1964 A. Paton in C. Millar 16 Stories 121For one thing, Ha’penny was a Mosotho, and she was a coloured woman.
1972 Evening Post 20 Jan.Mr Pieterse’s aged wife, Berlina, is registered as a Mosotho.
1973 Drum 22 May 31I am a Mosotho girl aged 20 and would like to correspond with male or female penpals from 19 to 26 years.
1973 J. Cowden For Love 32Once,..snow-bound at the top of Sani Pass, I spent ten days there, my only company a handful of Basotho and the giant predators of the sky.
1973 J. Cowden For Love 43Home-made Basotho beer is strong and coarse and can be heard thumping its potency, day and night, as it brews in their huts.
1976 West & Morris Abantu 149The South Sotho, commonly called the Basotho, are the southernmost group of the great Sotho family. They can be divided into two groups — those living in the Republic of South Africa and those that inhabit the Kingdom of Lesotho.
1980 M. Lipton in Optima Vol.29 No.2, 165These tensions were a factor in the conflicts in 1975 between Basothos and Xhosas on the Free States mines.
1982 L.N. Mzamane in Staffrider Vol.5 No.2, 27Oh you Mosotho girl, You black shadow by the riverside.
1986 P. Maylam Hist. of Afr. People 21The Sotho can conveniently be subdivided into three main groups: firstly, the western Sotho, or Tswana; secondly, the northern Sotho, who comprise the Pedi and Lobedu; and thirdly, the southern Sotho, or Basotho, who occupy present-day Lesotho and adjacent areas.
1987 R. Ntoula in City Press 26 Apr. 7Statistics today reveal that the average Mosotho’s gross income has fallen by 10 percent since the kingdom’s independence in 1966.
1987 New Nation 6 Aug. 9In 1871, Britain gave the Cape power to rule Basotholand. Until 1880, the Basotho managed to maintain a degree of independence.
1990 G. Slovo Ties of Blood 30The baas will tell you that we are Swazi, baSotho, Zulus, Xhosas, Tswana..but all I see are men: men who live under a common oppressor.
1990 M. Michaelides in Frontline Sept. 11I asked how the Basotho were buried, before whites arrived. They were wrapped in animal skins, he explained, and buried close to the house.
1987 M. Melamu Children of Twilight 276The inevitable stick which was a deadly weapon in the hands of a Mosotho.
A member of the South Sotho people, most of whom are resident in the Kingdom of Lesotho; South(ern) Sotho, see Sotho sense 1 c. Also attributive, passing into adjective.
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Sesotho and Sesotho sa Leboa
moskonfyt, nounn.Mossgas, nounn.
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