idlozi, noun

/iˈɮɔːzi/
Forms:
ehlosé, idhloziShow more singular ehlosé, idhlozi, idlozi, ihloze, ndhlozi; plural amadhlozi, amadlosi, amadlozi, amaHlose, amahlosi, a’Mahlozi, amahlozi, madlosis, madlozi, madlozis, mahlose, mathlosi.
Plurals:
usually amadlozi, or madlozi, madlozis.
Origin:
IsiZuluShow more IsiZulu. For notes on singular and plural forms see i-, ama-, and ma- prefix3.
Among Zulus: an ancestral spirit; a guardian spirit. Also attributive. See also itongo.
1855 J.W. Colenso Ten Weeks in Natal 99They said that ‘amaTongo and amaHlose were certainly not the same as umKulunkulu: for they could not be till man was created; in short, they were departed spirits, but umKulunkulu made all things.’
1857 W.H.I. Bleek in Cape Monthly Mag. I. May 293They seldom pray to any but to the a’Mahlozi, or spirits of their departed great people.
1857 J. Shooter Kafirs of Natal 161The Kafirs believe that, when a person dies, his i-hloze or isi-tute survives. These words are translated ‘Spirit’.
1895 H. Rider Haggard Nada 9I prayed to my Ehlosé, to the spirit that watches me.
1899 A. Werner Captain of Locusts 127‘Surely the Amadhlozi were protecting thee, child!’ cried the old woman.
1918 H. Moore Land of Good Hope 109A child of Christian parents has no itongo, though he has his own idhlozi, or personal spirit.
1948 E. Hellmann Rooiyard 102The ancestors are a living reality to them and they give proof of the constancy of their faith in the religion of their fathers by invoking the amadlozi in joy and in distress.
1955 E.A. Ritter Shaka Zulu 88The amadlozi (ancestral spirits) have given me a clear vision, and I can see you as a mighty tree.
1968 Post 28 Apr. 11To qualify as a top witchdoctor, he had to leave town life to call his amadlozi (spirits) of his dead ancestors near a spruit at Protea.
1972 Drum 22 Oct. 18Now your game’s up big boy, I said to myself...But the madlozis of Malinde were working overtime. I was offered R600 bail in court, and the case was postponed.
1976 Drum 15 May 2The mbongis have retired to the caves in the hills to commune with their madlozi muses for inspiration.
1987 Pace Oct. 4They say his (sc. Prince Charles’s) idlozi is Sir Laurens van der Post.
1989 S. Motimele in Staffrider Vol.8 No.1, 43The following day, early in the morning, I set out with grandfather to complete the madlozi rituals.
an ancestral spirit; a guardian spirit. Also attributive.
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18551989

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IsiZulu
idle, adjectiveadj.-ie, suffixsuff.
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