Transvaal, noun

/ˌtrɑnsˈvɑːl//ˌtrɑnsˈfɑːl/
Origin:
English, AfrikaansShow more English prefix trans- across + Vaal, the name of the river forming part of the area’s southern border (Afrikaans vaal grey).
The former name of an area north of the Vaal River, used attributively or in combination to designate anyone or anything from this area; found particularly in plant names, as
Transvaal bottlebrush, see bottlebrush;
Transvaal daisy, Barberton daisy (see Barberton sense 1 a);
Transvaal ebony, jakkalsbessie sense a;
Transvaal kweek, Transvaal kweekgras [see kweek], or Transvaal quick [see quick], the grass Cynodon hirsutus; red quick, see quick sense 2;
Transvaal teak, kiaat;
Transvaal tobacco, Transvaal tulp, etc. Also abbreviated form Tvl.
Note:
The Transvaal was formerly an independent republic (known as the Transvaal Republic or South African Republic), and subsequently the northernmost province of South Africa, before being divided in 1994 into the provinces of the Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo), Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), PWV (subsequently renamed Gauteng), and part of the North West Province.
1852 J.F. Churchill Diary. (Killie Campbell Africana Library MS37) MayOne of the Leaders of the Transvaal Dutch comes down to regain his farms.
1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. 106Sir George Cathcart..entered into a treaty with the Transvaal Boers.
1882 S. Heckford Lady Trader in Tvl 235Mr Felman was a Boer from the old colony, his wife a Transvaal Boer.
1892 J.E. Ritchie Brighter S. Afr. 50In Adderly Street I saw some Transvaal tobacco in a window.
1900 B. Mitford Aletta 34You smoke Transvaal tobacco then?
1901 Gardener 12 Jan. 1049The Transvaal Daisy..has been a bright patch for a long time...The large flame-coloured flowers..are a particularly fine sight.
1904 Tvl Agric. Jrnl Oct. 185The Transvaal kweekgras is shorter and more of a surface grass than the Bermuda grass.
1913 M.M. Cleaver Young S. Afr. 2I disliked..the acceptance of the Transvaal Burgher Right.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 510Transvaal tobacco, Tobacco grown in the Transvaal is very mild, and..is generally preferred to any other.
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 83Tulp (tulip). Several poisonous Irids: Homeria collina, the Geel (yellow) –;..H. pallida, the Transvaal –. Moraea polystachya, the Blauw – of the Karoo, etc.
1919 Dunell, Ebden & Co.’s Price List Aug. 32Tobacco, Transvaal...Guaranteed best Magaliesberg.
1921 W.C. Scully Harrow 7The artful suggestio falsi..that the Transvaal Boer..had..developed into a brutal robber.
1929 Handbk for Farmers (Dept of Agric.) 199 (captions)Cape Blue Tulp. Transvaal Yellow Tulp.
1935 J.W. Mathews in Jrnl of Botanical Soc. of S. Afr. XXI. 13In a publication on Lawns and Lawnmaking, by the Division of Botany, it says of the Regte Kweek (Cape Province) Cynodon incompletus: ‘A surface creeping grass of the coastal districts of the Cape that resembles very much the Transvaal Kweek (Cynodon hirsutus), but is less hairy and a deeper green in colour’.
1961 Palmer & Pitman Trees of S. Afr. 311Gardenia spatulifolia, often known as the Transvaal gardenia, is a small tree up to about 15 feet.
1969 N. Leck in J. Crwys-Williams S. Afr. Despatches (1989) 383Cock-a-hoop Transvaal supporters gave them no chance of victory.
1969 T.H. Everett Living Trees of World 285A fine African member of the genus [Diospyros] is the jakkalsbessie, West African ebony or Transvaal ebony (D. mespiliformis), which becomes 70 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 3 feet.
1971 J.A. Brown Return 42Cameron had..coarse, dry Transvaal tobacco that crackled in the bowl.
1971 Baraitser & Obholzer Cape Country Furn. 279Kiaat is also known as blood wood, Transvaal teak and Kehatenhout.
1991 G.E. Gibbs Russell et al. Grasses of Sn Afr. 97Cynodon transvaalensis Transvaal quick grass.
1993 Grocott’s Mail 6 Aug. 9Greyia Radlkoferi, Tvl Bottlebrush.
The former name of an area north of the Vaal River, used attributively or in combination to designate anyone or anything from this area; found particularly in plant names, as
Derivatives:
Hence Transvaalian /ˌtrɑnsˈvɑːlɪən/ adjective  obsolete, of or pertaining to the Transvaal; Transvaalite  noun, Geology, a mineral consisting mainly of black oxide of cobalt, resulting from the alteration of cobalt arsenide, found near Middelburg (Eastern Transvaal); and as adjective, of the Transvaal (however, quotation 1873 could reflect a noun usage); Transvaler  noun, also Transvaaler /ˌtrɑnsˈvɑːlə/, one born or resident in the Transvaal; see also the often derogatory terms Vaalie, Vaalpens (sense 2 b).
1873 F. Boyle To Cape for Diamonds 77He complains bitterly of the meddlesome and greedy nation of the Free State against its neighbours, Kaffir and Transvaalite.
1880 Grocott’s Penny Mail 28 Dec. 3We sympathize with the Dutch..in the distress into which they are plunged by the madness of their Transvaalian countrymen.
1887 H. Rider Haggard Jess p.xYou going to show us Transvaalers how to do it, eh?
1890 MacGhie & Clark in Engin. & Min. Jrnl. (N.Y.) L. 96Transvaalite.
1899 Daily News 19 Dec. 3The position of Britishers under the Transvaalian oligarchy would..become absolutely unbearable.
1903 E.F. Knight S. Afr. after War 60I told them that..we Transvaalers for our part had had our bellyful of war and wanted no more of it.
1950 H.C. Bosman in S. Gray Makapan’s Caves (1987) 139I am, after all, a Transvaler.
1987 Informant, George, Eastern CapePlease drive carefully — especially you Transvalers.
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