duiweltjie, noun

/ˈdœɪvəlki//ˈdev(ə)lki//ˈdəv(ə)lki//ˈdœɪvəlci/
Forms:
diwilkie, duiveltjeShow more Also diwilkie, duiveltje, duiveltjie, duwweltje, duwweltji, duwweltjie.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, etymology dubious: see dubbeltjie noun2.
dubbeltjie noun2. Also attributive.
1894 R. Marloth in Trans. of S. Afr. Phil. Soc. 29 Aug. 9 (Pettman)The little nuts of Tribulus terrestris and T. Zeyheri are armed with strong, sharp spines...The fruitlets of Emex centropodium are quite similar, both having deserved thereby the Dutch designation of ‘Duiveltjes’.
1937 Handbk for Farmers (Dept of Agric. & Forestry) 458The Karroo veld consists of the various types of Karroo bush and a secondary plant-growth.., amongst which the few grass species and especially the..widely-distributed duwweltjie (Tribulus sp.) can be included.
1948 A.C. White Call of Bushveld 195A pointer..may get an occasional duiweltjie in his foot which a knowing dog will extract immediately and without assistance.
1948 V.M. Fitzroy Cabbages & Cream 208Those peculiarly devilish little thorn-bearing weeds known as duiveltjes.
1961 L.E. Van Onselen Trekboer 27The Trekboer learned to use a queer assortment of herbs and plants for their medicinal properties from the Hottentots and Bushmen. Leaves of the duiveltjie weed were used as plasters to heal an abscess.
1969 J.M. White Land God Made in Anger 22Water is sweeping around the bend..drowning the thorny little duwweltjes..that have somehow survived for eight parched years in the clefts of the baked boulders.
1969 J.M. White Land God Made in Anger 230The Bushman [sic] know how to compound ointments from insects and reptiles, and how to make poultices from the duwweltjie and other plants.
1970 B.C. Maritz Informant, Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha), Eastern CapeI stepped onto a diwilkie and it’s gone into my foot.
1973 M. Philip Caravan Caravel 67‘Phew,’ said Peter, as he and Johan both examined their feet. ‘Duiweltjies in that grass.’
1982 J. Krige in Staffrider Vol.5 No.2, 20‘Eina bliksem,’ I shouted, lifting one of my feet. I had walked into a patch of duiweltjies and the little prodded thorns were sitting like flies on the soles of my feet.
1991 D.M. Moore Garden Earth 196 (caption)Duwweltji (Tribulus terrestris) grows along rivers and in lowlying areas, where its long taproot can draw on water deep in the ground.
dubbeltjie noun2. Also attributive.
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Afrikaans
duiwelsdrek, nounn.dulsies, plural nounpl. n.
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