2.
a. A hut or cluster of huts occupied by one family or clan, either standing alone or as part of a traditional African village; the labourers’ huts on a farm; homestead sense 2; werf sense 2 a; cf. umzi. b. transferred sense The family or clan inhabiting these dwellings. Also attributive (sometimes pejorative, implying a lack of sophistication).
- Note:
- ‘Homestead’ is the preferred term among anthropologists.
1786 G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. I. 197
The order or distribution of these huts in a craal or clan, is most frequently in the form of a circle with the doors inwards.
1790 tr. of F. Le Vaillant’s Trav. I. 159
At the distance of a league, I found a Kraal, consisting of four huts, in which was a Hottentot family.
1790 Pennant in W. Paterson Narr. of Four Journeys 20
The order or distribution of these huts in a craal or clan, is most frequently in the form of a circle with the doors inwards.
1795 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. I. 164
They encamp there with their cattle, and make huts (Kraals) of Mesembryanthemum bushes or of mats.
1798 Lady A. Barnard in Lord Lindsay Lives of Lindsays (1849
) III. 434
We have prevailed on each family to have a spot of ground round its craal to rear things on.
1801 Lady A. Barnard Jrnl (1973) 191Saw no house for five miles, and then another of the Landdrost’s, with kraals around it of Hottentots belonging to the farm.
1801 W.S. Van Ryneveld in G.M. Theal Rec. of Cape Col. (1898
) IV. 90
There are some who have Cattle and dwell with their families in Huts (kraalen).
1821 C.I. Latrobe Jrnl of Visit 240
The kraal consisted of a circular building of reeds and rushes, covered with grass, a garden near the brook, and a small enclosure for cattle.
1827 G. Thompson Trav. 30
They are divided into a great number of independant clans, or kraals.
1836 C.L. Stretch Journal.The population..amount to about 500 souls, who reside in the village; but the inmates of several kraals in its vicinity have also the benefit of instruction.
1841 B. Shaw Memorials 24
Each tribe is again subdivided into clans or kraals, governed by petty chiefs.
1841 B. Shaw Memorials 242
The chief Pato..has this year put that beyond all doubt, by fining several kraals for working on the Sabbath, which has had a very general effect throughout the tribe.
1856 G. Grey in Imp. Blue Bks Command Paper 2352–1857, 37
Throughout Kaffraria the natives live along the ridges and slopes of the hills..in collections of huts termed kraals.
1860 W. Shaw Story of my Mission 317
He was allowed by Gaika to fix his residence at a place at no great distance from the principal kraal or residence of that Chieftain.
1890 in Cape Law Jrnl VII. 226
When I related what I knew to friends I met at the different kraals I visited, I would imagine I was before the judge.
1912 Ayliff & Whiteside Hist. of Abambo 81
Their children were useful to the parents in many ways in kraal life.
1926 M. Nathan S. Afr. from Within 54
The principal kraal was at Zombode, though the kraals at Lobamba (the residence of the Present Paramount Chief) and at Embekelweni have also been occupied.
1937 C. Birkby Zulu Journey 23
These homes, merely thatched huts, are all grouped within the family enclosure — the kraal.
1948 V.M. Fitzroy Cabbages & Cream 126
People living on real farms with a kraalful of piccanins.
1948 A. Paton Cry, Beloved Country 266
Kraal,..a number of huts together, under the rule of the head of the family, who is of course subject to the chief.
1955 J.B. Shephard Land of Tikoloshe 14
Because that pen or kraal is the social and often the religious centre of life in a Xhosa community, the whole homestead is usually referred to as ‘So-and-So’s kraal’.
1955 E.A. Ritter Shaka Zulu 2
The single homestead, popularly called kraal, was the basic unit of the old Zulu State, a microcosm of the whole clan system.
1967 J.A. Broster Red Blanket ValleyThe average kraal consists of three huts, these being a store room and two living rooms.
1972 Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. VI. 453
Among the Bantu peoples the kraal was the basic social and economic unit and had a personal significance.
1977 J. Sikakane Window on Soweto 15
My grandfather..was the eldest son in the whole family ‘kraal’ unit.
1978 A. Elliott Sons of Zulu 97
The word ‘kraal’ is the long established name for the homes of the country tribespeople of Southern Africa...It is a word which is used broadly and may mean the single hut of a newly married couple, the larger establishment of a many-wived man, or it may even be used to indicate a tribal village and also a byre.
1984 Frontline Mar. 22
His kraal, his huts, were set alight, so showing his broken wife and their bewildered children they were no longer wanted in the village.
1992 E. Jayiya in Pace Sept. 15
Another pretty woman has become the fifth wife in the kraal of King Goodwill Zwelethini.
1993 Weekend Mercury 2 Jan. 17
Since becoming self-employed, he has built and furnished his own kraal.
c. With distinguishing epithet denoting a particular type of kraal:
royal kraal, a homestead where the chief of an African people lives and holds court, or where his wife and children live; cf. great place (see great).
1926 M. Nathan S. Afr. from Within 36
Invaded the country with three columns, Ulundi, the royal kraal, being their objective.
1958 J.J.R. Jolobe in R. Macnab Poets in S. Afr. 49
A spear betrothal’s sign was left in court. Report was made it came from royal Kraal.
1971 Sunday Tribune 5 Dec. 23
Thousands of Zulus accompanied the new Paramount Chief to the Royal Kraal for the traditional feast of oxen.
1975 Drum 22 Sept. 8
Nobody in Swaziland, it seems, can give the exact number of queens and princes at the eight royal kraals.
1987 Drum Mar. 13
The king then called his first meeting of the nation at the Royal kraal, Ludzidzini. Thousands of Swazis gathered at the royal place from the early hours of the morning.
3.
a. An enclosure, fold, or pen for domestic or other animals; crawl sense b. Also attributive. See also cattle-boma (boma noun1 sense 3 b), skutkraal.
1795 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. I. 164
A place or fold where sheep or cattle were enclosed in the open air was called a kraal.
1812 A. Plumptre tr. of H. Lichtenstein’s Trav. in Sn Afr. I. 107
The Kraals for the horse and oxen are enclosed by a wall five or six feet high, those for the sheep are only enclosed by thorn hedges.
1827 T. Philipps Scenes & Occurrences 106
Each flock had its separate kraal, fenced round with the thorny mimosa, piled high and impenetrable to wild beasts.
1843 T. Pringle Afr. Sketches 180
He led us out towards the kraals or cattle-folds.
1876 T. Stubbs Reminiscences. II. 17Found a Kraal in the thick bush a lot of Cows and Calves in the Kraal.
1884 B. Adams Narr. (1941
) 80
At sunset all the cattle was brought in and enclosed in Kraals — large circles formed of the mimosa tree.
1898 J.F. Ingram Story of Afr. City 19
As the morning advanced the kraal gates were opened, and the cattle driven forth.
1900 R. Kipling in J. Crwys-Williams S. Afr. Despatches (1989
) 160
We made a kraal for the two little ones — a kraal of thorn-bushes, so that they should not be bitten by anything.
1926 P. Smith Beadle (1929
) 152
Riding about the farm with mijnheer or visiting distant lands, camps and kraals with Frikkie.
1949 T. Mofolo Chaka Zulu 7
The cattle will come here in great numbers and the kraals will soon be full.
1957 S. Schoeman Strike! 227
The Ordinance and the Regulations inter alia prohibit:..The use of Nets or Kraals for the capture of fish except under licence.
1968 R. Griffiths Man of River 93
Have I a kraal of fish, like a kraal of cattle or sheep or goats, that I can select some each day for slaughter?
1974 S. Afr. Panorama Dec. 5
A supplementary ‘kraal’ system where some 20000 sheep can be accommodated.
1990 R. Stengel January Sun 13
About two dozen cows and bulls..stand in the muddy kraal next to the barn. Kraal is the Afrikaans word for what an American cowboy would call a corral, a term with the same Latin root, currale, meaning ‘enclosure’.
b. With distinguishing epithet.
i. Designating enclosures for various kinds of domestic or other animals, as cattle-kraal, fish-kraal, goat-kraal, lamb-kraal, sheep-kraal, turtle-kraal, etc. See also beast-kraal (beast sense 2).
1817 G. Barker Journal. 19 Nov.Went to the cattle kraal to settle some differences among the people.
1827 T. Philipps Scenes & Occurrences 188
A fire blazing on a little hill which we rode up to and discovered it to be a cattle Kraal.
1832 J. Collett Accounts. I. 64Whether krale, Lamb krale, Kid krale.
1841 B. Shaw Memorials 35
The chief, at his death, is buried in the cattle kraal: his grave being filled up, the cattle are driven over it, in order that the place may not be discovered.
1843 J.C. Chase Cape of G.H. 150
The field is generally at a convenient distance from the cattle kraal, from whence he procures a dressing for his land whenever it may be required.
1903 R. Kipling Five Nations 153
Giving and taking counsel each Over the cattle-kraal.
1924 S.G. Millin God’s Step-Children 292
That was the cattle kraal, said Gert. And the smaller one next to it was the sheep kraal.
1953 U. Krige Dream & Desert 175
Then walked slowly towards the sheepkraal where he slaughtered six sheep.
1958 L.G. Green S. Afr. Beachcomber 109
Long, long ago the first beachcombers were..baiting their fish-kraals wherever the rocks allowed them to trap the shoals as the tides went out.
1958 L.G. Green S. Afr. Beachcomber 191
Turtle kraals, built early last century in a creek where the tide ebbs and flows...The seamen..of old would often capture a hundred, two hundred turtles in a night and keep them in those kraals.
1961 T.V. Bulpin White Whirlwind 295
There’ll be streets and theatres and fine shops standing on the site of his old goat kraal.
1981 Sunday Times 15 Mar. 11
From cattle kraals to concrete parking lots...that is the changing world of the black mineworker.
1985 Fair Lady 6 Feb. 79
A cattle kraal near the first set of highly efficient security gates lends a practical homely air to the place.
1993 Weekly Mail & Guardian 23 Dec. 15
Although we do not have our cattle kraals in the township, traditional weddings still take place.
ii. Designating particular uses, as keep-kraal, a kraal for segregating or holding game; out-kraal, a kraal far from a farm homestead; skutkraal, see as a main entry; sorting kraal, a kraal for sorting and separating animals into groups; wash-kraal nonce, an open-air bathing enclosure.
1850 J.D. Lewins Diary. 5 Oct.Had a visit from Kew. To give him my wash-place. He will send poles for wash-kraal & make me also a spout.
1894 O.E.A. Schreiner in S.C. Cronwright-Schreiner Life of Olive Schreiner (1924
) 263
Went to an out-kraal right away in the Hoek, a beautiful valley on the farm.
1971 Daily Dispatch 28 May 7
The animals are trapped..and moved to ‘keep-kraals’ in the reserve.
1972 Grocott’s Mail 16 May 1
There is a cattle dip as well as a sheep dip tank with sorting kraals.
c. Figurative and transferred sense In
sense 3 a, but referring to a place used or inhabited by people, or to a grouping of people.
i. A contained area, an enclosure.
1896 Purvis & Biggs S. Afr. 169
Each division was sub-divided into military kraals.
1905 P. Gibbon Vrouw Grobelaar 172
How some have striven for the home kraal.
1961 T.V. Bulpin White Whirlwind 214
They called the ship ‘the great kraal that pushes through the water’.
1961 H.F. Sampson White-Faced Huts 36
I saw Vamsinya in a little kraal in the centre of the Court...The old gentleman who spoke kaffir put up two fingers of his right hand, and told me to speak the truth, so help me God!
ii. A social grouping based on economic, political, linguistic, ethnic, or other differences, and serving to separate people from one another.
1938 A.H. Murray in Star 16 July 10
The Afrikaner kraal is being drawn so narrow that it is almost impossible to move within it. You must not dance and you must not play cards, [etc.].
1949 J.S. Franklin This Union 87
Carefully shepherded in separate kraals, the one shut off and excluded from the language and culture of the other.
1953 P. Lanham Blanket Boy’s Moon 274
The white man places all who do not possess white skins in one kraal, and calls them ‘non-Europeans’.
1969 J. Mervis in Sunday Times 24 Aug. 13
The English Press are trying to chase the Afrikaners, like cattle, into separate ‘verligte’ and ‘verkrampte’ kraals.
1970 News/Check 4 Sept. 8
Too long have English-speakers taken a superbly bland view of politics, and this has merely kept them (and consoled them) in their own kraal.
1979 F. Dike First S. African 18
Are you a coloured? Hayi maan, your son has broken into my kraal.
1982 Pace June 66
These women..are a permanent feature of this kraal designed exclusively for men.
1985 Argus 4 June 10
So many whites are running into Mr P W Botha’s kraal.
1990 Siramo in Staffrider Vol.9 No.2
, 79
Let my right hand not forget you, Saf’ Afrika, the kraal of no mercy.
1991 F.G. Butler Local Habitation 100
These Christian Nationalists were going to legislate all education into a monolithic master-plan of separate linguistic kraals.
d. combinations
kraal bird rare, the small bird Pytelia melba ;
kraalbos/-bɔs/, also
kraal-bosch,
[Afrikaans,
bos (earlier South African Dutch
bosch) bush
], any of several shrubs used for making enclosures for livestock, especially Galenia africana and Eretia rigida; also kraal bosje [see boschje] ;
kraal manure,
kraalmis/məs/,
[Afrikaans,
mis manure
], dung taken from animal enclosures, dried, and used for fertilizing lands or gardens, or as building material; see also mis sense 1 ;
kraalward adverb, towards a kraal ;
kraal-wood, wood used for building rough animal enclosures
.
1900 Stark & Sclater Birds of S. Afr. I. 90
This Finch (sc. Pytelia melba) is found sparingly in Damara and Great Namaqua Land...Its favourite resort is low bush and old abandoned village fences, whence the Damaras call it the ‘Kraal bird’.
1795 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. I. 310
The Galenia Africana was known under the appellation of Kraal-bosch, and in some places was used for fences about the inclosures for their cattle.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 280
Kraal bosje, Galenia africana, and other plants.
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 310
Kraalbos,..Eretia rigida...Frequently found round native kraals. The vernacular name has reference to the use made of the plants, or perhaps it has been prompted by the globose fruits, each of which suggests a bead (Afr.: kraal).
1988 Le Roux & Schelpe Namaqualand 76
Galenia african[a], Kraalbos...This plant..can be the only remaining species after the veld has been heavily overgrazed.
[1815 J. Mackrill Diary. 101Having preserved a Quantity of dry dung from my Kraal, I sow the dung..liberally over my land.]
1904 Argus Christmas Annual (Competitions Sect.
) p.viii
Where wood is scarce, people use coal..and are more fortunate than those who are compelled to use kraal fuel and pay well for it.
1905 E.A. Nobbs in Flint & Gilchrist Science in S. Afr. 383
Facilities for the sale of..‘Kraal manure’ exists [sic] in the form of specially low charges for carriage by rail from the Karroo to the grain and fruit areas.
1905 Blackwood’s Mag. (U.K.
) Mar. 389
The room was floored with dagga — anthill earth brought to a high stage of hardness and mahogany-like polish by frequent dressings of bullock’s blood and kraal manure.
c1911 E. Glanville in S. Playne Cape Col. 661
He was also manuring his ground with kraal manure and it was possible for him to put down 1000 acres of lucerne.
a1951 H.C. Bosman Willemsdorp (1977
) 61
With kraal manure in his trouser turn-ups.
1987 E. Prov. Herald 13 Nov. 21
(advt)Manure: Fresh farm manure. Kraal manure R3 per grain bag.
1991 H. Hutchings in Weekend Post 9 Feb.
(Leisure
) 7
The rose beds are covered with a thick mulch of kraal manure — as are all other beds of shrubs and flowers.
1977 M.P. Gwala Jol’iinkomo 42
Let me drink from the khamba of the elders. Let me blow my nose into kraalmis.
1991 J. Farquharson in Sunday Times 10 Mar. 22
Fine houses are razed; many shops with enchanting facades are being ‘done over’ and plastered with an apparent mixture of mud and kraalmis.
1947 F.C. Slater Sel. Poems 85
The lowing cows plod kraalward with full udders.
1888 Cape Punch 7 Sept. 119
Timber, firewood, wattles, kraal-wood, branch-wood.
1907 T.R. Sim Forests & Forest Flora 68
No Kraalwood or Firewood shall be cut within twenty (20) yards of the edge of the Crown Forest.
The community inhabiting a traditional village.
A hut or cluster of huts occupied by one family or clan, either standing alone or as part of a traditional African village; the labourers’ huts on a farm;
homestead sense 2;
werf sense 2 a;
royal kraal, a homestead where the chief of an African people lives and holds court, or where his wife and children live;
An enclosure, fold, or pen for domestic or other animals;
crawl sense b. Also
attributive.
Designating enclosures for various kinds of domestic or other animals, as
cattle-kraal,
fish-kraal,
goat-kraal,
lamb-kraal,
sheep-kraal,
turtle-kraal, etc. See also
beast-kraal (
beast sense 2).
Designating particular uses, as
keep-kraal, a kraal for segregating or holding game;
out-kraal, a kraal far from a farm homestead;
skutkraal, see as a main entry;
sorting kraal, a kraal for sorting and separating animals into groups;
wash-kraal nonce, an open-air bathing enclosure.
A contained area, an enclosure.
A social grouping based on economic, political, linguistic, ethnic, or other differences, and serving to separate people from one another.
the small bird Pytelia melba
, any of several shrubs used for making enclosures for livestock, especially
Galenia africana and
Eretia rigida; also
kraal bosje [see
boschje]
, dung taken from animal enclosures, dried, and used for fertilizing lands or gardens, or as building material;
, towards a kraal
an element in place names.
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