imbeleko, noun
- Origin:
- IsiZuluShow more IsiZulu, formed on beleka carry (a child) on one’s back.
1. A piece of animal-skin or other strong material, used for strapping a baby onto its mother’s back.
1948 E. Hellmann Rooiyard 10Even the time-honoured imbeleko (cradle-skin in which children are carried on back) is giving way to the blanket.
1977 P.C. Venter Soweto 55A goat was killed, the blood symbolizing the mother’s loss of virginity...Her mother presented her with the imbeleko, a rectangle of strong material with straps so that she could one day carry a baby on her back. ‘You must not use any old blanket,’ her mother said. ‘Too many township women have forgotten the imbeleko. It will protect your child.’
2. rare. A ceremony celebrating the birth of a child, in which a goat is killed and its skin made into a support for carrying the child.
1988 I. Darby in Laband & Haswell Pietermaritzburg 1838–1988 166The ceremony of imbeleko which followed the birth of a child gave it personhood and identity.
A piece of animal-skin or other strong material, used for strapping a baby onto its mother’s back.
A ceremony celebrating the birth of a child, in which a goat is killed and its skin made into a support for carrying the child.
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