‖mkhaya, noun

/(ə)mˈka(ː)ɪa/
Forms:
Also mkaya.
Plurals:
abakhaya, amakhaya.
Origin:
IsiXhosa, isiZuluShow more IsiXhosa umkhaya (plural abakhaya) a neighbour, isiZulu umkhaya (singular only) the family.
Mainly in urban (especially township) parlance: home-boy.
1963 [see migrant].
1963 Wilson & Mafeje Langa 51In Cape Town then, a group of men from a small country village tend to live, eat, and work together. They address one another as mkhaya or home-boy if they are men of some education.
1981 Voice 8 Apr. 2That promising young man..is your ‘mkhaya’. He also lives in Dobsonville, that is.
1981 B. Mfenyana in M. Mutloatse Reconstruction 301Mr Man breezes into Boston, and starts asking for ‘fags’. He is greeted by blank expressions (at the very least). Soon the pained expression on his homza’s face makes him ask, ‘But whatsepnin, mkhaya?’
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19631981
MK, nounn.Mkhulu, nounn.
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