opsitting, verbal noun

/ˈɔpsɪtɪŋ/
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, from opsit (see opsit verb).
obsolescent
upsitting.
1900 H.A. Bryden From Veldt Camp Fires 195Tobias meant to make a bit of a splash today,..although he was not prepared for the solemnity of an ‘opsitting’ (that all-night form of courtship, dear to the heart of the Boer).
1946 S. Cloete Afr. Portraits 68The Boers had many customs of their own. The opsitting or courtship was one which persists in many parts of the Backveld to this day.
1949 C. Bullock Rina 36There was no chance of Piet going far until the opsitting ended one way or the other.
1969 D. Child Yesterday’s Children 111At the age of seventeen he married a girl named Maria du Plessis. He had to ride nearly two hundred miles for the traditional opsittings (courting by candlelight) with her.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

19001969

Browse Related Words

By Category

Family and Social Relationships

By Origin

Afrikaans

By Usage

obsolete or obsolescent
opsitkers, nounn.opskop, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English