kholwa, noun

/ˈkɔːlwa/
Forms:
kolwa, makolwaShow more Also kolwa, makolwa, mkolwa.
Plurals:
amakolwa/amaˈkɔːlwa/, amakholwa, amakholwas, kholwas.
Origin:
IsiXhosa, isiZuluShow more IsiXhosa and isiZulu ikholwa believer. For an explanation of plural forms, see ama-.
A name given (especially in the past) to a Christian African. Also transferred sense, a westernized or middle-class Black person. Also attributive. See also school adjective sense 1.
1899 A. Werner Captain of Locusts 179These Amakolwa girls — with a spiteful emphasis (Nono was a former pupil of the Mission school, and a regular church goer) — every one knew what they were, for all the airs they gave themselves with their frocks and their starched cappies.
1903 Ilanga 8 May 3Christian Natives...The following clippings..may prove interesting to our readers especially in reference to the behaviour of kolwa Natives.
1903 Ilanga 22 May 4Kolwa Natives would be willing to pay a reasonable fee for a clean place to sleep in...Civilized Natives cannot go into any of the Restaurants because of their colour.
1903 Ilanga 20 Nov. 4Nearly all the Amakolwas some time ago possessed wagons and spans of oxen.
1906 E. London Dispatch 14 Feb. 4Accused is a ‘Mkolwa’ or Christianised native.
1908 D. Blackburn Leaven 33My God, a makolwa! (Christianised native).
1911 M.S. Evans Black & White in S.E. Afr. 84At one time either a native was tribal..or he was a mission Christian, a kolwa or believer.
1944 C.R. Prance Under Blue Roof 56The ‘Kolwas’ have lit a fire which flames like a sudden lighthouse beacon.
1949 O. Walker Proud Zulu (1951) 202Through another messenger, a ‘kolwa’ or Christian Zulu, Cetewayo sent his bound copy of the rules read out to him by..Shepstone.
1962 W.D. Hammond-Tooke Bhaca Soc. 64Christians are called by pagans ‘amakholwa’ (believers) or, occasionally, amagqoboka (the pierced ones), while pagans are referred to as amaqaba (those smeared with red ochre).
1980 D.B. Coplan Urbanization of African Performing Arts. 159The amakholwa (‘believers’) as African Christians were called, became increasingly bitter about White resistance to their advancement in every field.
1986 P. Maylam Hist. of Afr. People 85The ranks of the kholwa also produced resourceful, enterprising people. In the last three decades of the nineteenth century kholwa aspired to positions of leadership in the church.
1988 B. Guest in Laband & Haswell Pietermaritzburg 1838–1988 125The enterprising kholwa (convert) members of the black community..were quick to extend their transport-riding activitoes inland to the diamond fields.
1989 Frontline Apr. 12Edendale is one of the few places where blacks have always owned land. There are wealthy people known as the amaKholwa, (that is, bourgeois), whose ancestors were given land as a reward for siding with the English in the war of 1879. These people are resented.
A name given (especially in the past) to a Christian African. Also transferred sense, a westernized or middle-class Black person. Also attributive.
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18991989

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IsiXhosa
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Khoisan, plural nounpl. n.khotso, interjectionint.
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