raad, noun
- Forms:
- Also with initial capital.
- Origin:
- DutchShow more Dutch, council; cf. heemraad, Kerkeraad, Kerkraad (see Kerk sense 2), Volksraad.
1. A board or council, particularly, in historical contexts, the council of the Rehoboth Baster people (see Rehoboth). See also Burgerraad sense 1.
1840 C.A. Kinloch in Echo 9 Nov. 5The Chief, with a look of incredulity, signified that the matter should be laid before the Council...[It was] not until the evening of the 18th that the Raad could make up their minds.
1987 B. Lau Namibia in Jonker Afrikaner’s Time 46The position of the chief and his ‘raad’, the leaders of the commando, was primarily based on their military skills in securing access to specific commodities like guns and horses or taxes and booty in cattle.
2. In historical contexts. [Shortened form of Afrikaans (earlier South African Dutch) Volksraad.] Volksraad sense 1.
1851 R. Gray Jrnls of Two Visitations II. 25These men have formed themselves into a Republic, and have their ‘Raad’ (Council).
1994 M. Roberts tr. of J.A. Wahlberg’s Trav. Jrnls 1838–56 38News that Pretoria has overthrown the Raad and chosen a new one.
3. combination.
1888 Cape Punch 29 Feb. 117This S[tout] O[ld] F[armer]..made a Bee line — B stands for Boer — to the corner of the Raad Huis.
1921 H.J. Mandelbrote tr. of O.F. Mentzel’s Descr. of Cape of G.H. I. 150The Town and Stellenbosch had each a burgher council and a ‘raadhuis;’ the latter also possessed a gaol.
A board or council, particularly, in historical contexts, the council of the Rehoboth Baster people (see Rehoboth). See also Burgerraad sense 1.
- Derivatives:
- Hence (nonce) Raadist noun, a member of a raad.1899 Grocott’s Daily Mail 12 July 2The thousands of British Subjects in the Republic, who have..furnished the handful of Raadists and the Executive with tens of thousands sterling per annum.
Copyright © 2023 Dictionary Unit for South African English.