highveld, noun

/ˈhaɪfelt/, /ˈhaɪfɛlt/
Forms:
Also with initial capital, and (formerly) high veldt.
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African DutchShow more Partial translation of Afrikaans hoëveld, from South African Dutch hoogeveld, hoogeveldt, see Hooge Veld.
a. The inland plateau of southern Africa, lying mostly between 1 200m and 1 800m above sea-level; formerly called Hooge Veld. See also lowveld, middleveld. b. The grasslands of this region. c. Johannesburg and the area around it (the commercial and industrial centre of the region). Also attributive.
Note:
The highveld is one of the major physiographic regions of southern Africa. The South African highveld extends over the Gauteng Province, and includes parts of the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), the northern Orange Free State (now Free State), the Northern Cape, and parts of the North-West Province; the boundaries of the region, based on vegetation, altitude, and prominent physical features, are not clearly defined.
1877 F. Jeppe Tvl Bk Almanac & Dir. (1976) 31In the Southern Districts, and along the highveldt, the habit exists of burning off the grass during the dry winter season, in order to improve the pasturage.
1878 A. Aylward Tvl of Today 44The farmers tracked out to what is known as the Highveld — the great, bare, but healthy and excellent pasturelands forming the plateau of the Transvaal proper.
1882 C. Du Val With Show through Sn Afr. I. 259The fresh breeze of the rolling ‘high Veld’.
1884 ‘E.V.C.’ Promised Land 14Our trek was uninteresting enough until we reached the high veldt.
1898 G. Nicholson 50 Yrs 161The pasturage in the low-lying encircling bush veldt is generally of sweeter and better quality than that of the ‘high veldt’.
1900 B. Mitford Aletta 104The sun flamed down from a blue and cloudless vault, but without much power, for it was about midwinter, and the atmosphere of the high veldt was clear and exhilarating.
1903 E.F. Knight S. Afr. after War 286We were still in the low veldt, but throughout this trek we ever saw ahead of us the dark, well-defined ridge that forms the edge of the healthier, cooler, but less fertile and drier high veldt, 1,000 feet above us.
1905 J.W. Gregory in Rep. Brit. Assoc. 399The old rocks that form the foundation of the present high veldt of Rhodesia.
1910 A.B. Lamont Rural Reader 4The High Veld stretches from the main watershed towards Griqualand West and into the Orange River Colony.
1919 M.C. Bruce Golden Vessel 69The bitterly cold evenings, which so often distinguish especially the High Veld winter.
1926 M. Nathan S. Afr. from Within 209In the Free State there is scattered bush, but, on the whole, the High Veld is grass country, with a monotonous landscape, except near Potchefstroom and on the Witwatersrand, where it is diversified by ranges of low hills.
1936 H.C. Bosman Mafeking Rd (1969) 7I worked it all out once, when I had a pencil. That was on the Highveld, though. But from where we are now, in the Lowveld, the stars are further away. You can see that they look smaller, too.
1940 J. Buchan Memory Hold-the-Door 117On the high-veld you have grey-green plains, which carry the eye to an immense distance.
1955 A. Delius Young Trav. in S. Afr. 54Beyond the trees the Transvaal highveld rolled into the distance, covered, where the land wasn’t ploughed, with the withering long grass.
1963 S. Cloete Rags of Glory 283In the Transvaal it would be cold now, rainless, clear, with occasional bitter winds sweeping across the high veld from the south.
1977 Fugard & Devenish Guest 11Highveld winter landscape. Wide and empty.
1979 W. Ebersohn Lonely Place 43Winter nights on the highveld are cold in a way that people who live in damp climates never experience.
1984 Sunday Times 23 Sept. (Lifestyle) 6It was one of those unmatchable Highveld winter days with an unbroken blue sky.
1985 W. Botha in Fair Lady 20 Feb. 89The Transvaal Highveld houses one of the most competitive, achievement-motivated societies in the world.
1988 N. Richards in Fair Lady Mar. 96 (caption)Divided neatly into four strips — the highveld, middleveld, lowveld and Lubombo range — the scenery in Swaziland appears to do something different around every corner.
1990 E. Koch in Weekly Mail 27 Apr. 9The air over the Highveld..contains some of the world’s highest concentrations of soot, noxious gases and acid rain ingredients.
1990 Weekly Mail 21 Dec. (Suppl.) 31The Gereformeerde Blues Band..gave the highveld alternative contingent something to buzz about.
1993 Sunday Nation 8 Aug. 7Farmworkers on the Highveld.
The inland plateau of southern Africa, lying mostly between 1 200m and 1 800m above sea-level; formerly called Hooge Veld.
The grasslands of this region.
Johannesburg and the area around it (the commercial and industrial centre of the region). Also attributive.
Derivatives:
Hence highvelder  /ˈhaɪfeldə/ noun, an inhabitant of the highveld.
1977 A. Cruickshank in The 1820 Vol.50 No.12, 19Wine festivals and wine auctions are becoming frequent events...The lucky people in the Cape are able to enjoy these occasions far more often than the Highvelders.
1988 Lampert & Fourie in You 21 Jan. 102Freeloading Highvelders are bankrupting their coastal cousins...The holidays are over and happy Highvelders are bursting with seaside-induced health and vitality. Meanwhile the relatives with whom they stayed are talking to the bank about a personal loan.
1990 H.P. Toffoli in Style Nov. 56Nine out of ten highvelders believe that Durban is a shoppers’ absolute desert, darling.
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highvelder

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High Dutch, noun phrasen. phr.highwater, nounn.
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