praiser, noun

Forms:
Also with initial capital.
Origin:
EnglishShow more Special sense of general English.
imbongi sense 1.
1836 [see imbongi sense 1].
1855 J.W. Colenso Ten Weeks in Natal 107The ‘praisers’ are rushing here and there, chattering, with foaming lips, the honours of their chief.
a1873 J. Burrow Trav. in Wilds of Afr. (1971) 74The Chief never stirred without his ‘praisers’, namely, those men who did nothing but extol him until they fell foaming at the mouth like so many madmen.
1904 D. Kidd Essential Kafir 92All chiefs keep a Court Praiser, whose business it is to go in front of the chief and sing his praises.
1937 G.P. Lestrade in I. Schapera Bantu-Speaking Tribes 299A praiser..may..alter the order..of stanzas.
1953 P. Lanham Blanket Boy’s Moon 83He was now a well-known man, both as a ‘praiser’ and as a merchant.
1968 T. Cope Izibongo: Zulu Praise Poems 26When a man of distinction is rewarded for his services by the chief..he..establishes a great kraal and appoints a personal praiser, who will collect..and perfect his praises, so that they constitute what we call a ‘praise-poem’.
1983 Rand Daily Mail 26 May 9The praiser’s duty was to extol his chief and confound his enemies with a licence that had no regard for truth or even possibility.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

18551983

Browse Related Words

By Category

Occupations
Traditional African Religion and Culture

By Origin

English
praat, verbv.predikant, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English