Swazi, noun and & adjective

/ˈswa(ː)zi//ˈswɑːzi//ˈswɒzi/
Forms:
Suazi, SwasiShow more Formerly also Suazi, Swasi, Swazie.
Origin:
IsiZulu, Siswati, South African EnglishShow more Probably from isiZulu amaSwazi (the) Swazis (singular iSwazi), adaptation of Siswati emaSwati (singular liSwati), and isiSwazi the language of the Swazis, adaptation of Siswati siSwati, see Swati sense 1; or the forms with -zi may represent an obsolete pronunciation used among Swazis. The isiZulu forms are the forms most commonly used in South African English.
A. noun
1. Plural unchanged, Swazis, or amaSwazi. a. A member of a predominantly Nguni people living mainly in the Kingdom of Swaziland but also in the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga); see also Swati sense 2. b. Any citizen of the Kingdom of Swaziland.
1846 Natal Witness 16 Oct. 1The Pongola River, the boundary between the Zoolahs and the Amaswazi.
1857 J. Shooter Kafirs of Natal 591The Amaswazi partially shave their heads.
1880 Volkstem 2 Jan. 2Sir Garnet Wolseley declared that the Swazies carried out the duties for which they were employed to his entire satisfaction.
1881 Pretoria Convention in S.W. Eybers Sel. Constit. Doc. (1918) 461The independence of the Swazis, within the boundary line of Swaziland, as indicated in the first Article of this Convention, will be fully recognised.
1882 J. Nixon Among Boers 98Dingaan did not long survive his defeat. His brother Panda revolted against him, and forced him to take shelter among the Amaswazi.
1884 Cape Law Jrnl I. 223These are the Amaxosa Kafirs, Fingoes, Tembus, Amampondo, Xesibes, Zulus, Bayeiye, Baloquazi, Shangaans, Matabele, Amatonga or Batoka, Amasuazi, Interior Basuto tribes and those in the Transvaal Territory and Colonial Basutos.
1897 F.R. Statham S. Afr. as It Is 17They are..separated by differences of race and by ancient hatreds...Zulus would never make common cause with Swazies, and neither Swazies nor Zulus would ever act in concert with Basutos.
1901 Natives of S. Afr. (S. Afr. Native Races Committee) 143The Amaswazi and the people from the Portuguese territory above Delagoa Bay.
1905 Native Tribes of Tvl 132The Swazis dress after the style of the Zulus of Zululand, wearing the skin ‘moocha’.
1920 S.M. Molema Bantu Past & Present 89Ama-Swazi (or Swazis) are a small tribe occupying the country north-west of the Zulu country.
1926 M. Nathan S. Afr. from Within 53The Swazis..are a Bantu people, predominantly Nguni in culture and language.
1953 P. Lanham Blanket Boy’s Moon 211As the motor car approached the land of the Amaswazi, the tobacco lands, the orange groves, the fields of sugar cane, gave way to a country of bush.
1978 E. Prov. Herald 12 Apr. 8The Swazi are a proud race yet they are inherently courteous and have a basic sense of humour.
1982 Sunday Times 18 July 24If the Swazis — a foreign nation — can be helped to form a greater Swaziland, why not Xhosas for a greater Xhosaland.
1983 Pace Oct. 173 (caption)Young white Swazi.
2. The language of the Swazi people; Swati sense 1. Also (occasionally) Siswazi.
1905 Native Tribes of Tvl 136The language of the Swazis, called Siswazi is merely a dialect of the Zulu tongue.
c1948 H. Tracey Lalela Zulu 6The land of the Baca is in the southern part of Natal where they speak a dialect which is akin to Swazi.
1954 C.M. Doke Sn Bantu Languages 91Swazi has not been used as a literary form, educational work in Swaziland being through the medium of Zulu.
1982 Sunday Times 30 May 3Even though his tribe spoke Swazi and for decades many of them had intermarried with Swazis, this did not mean that they regarded Swaziland as having any overlordship in the area.
3. rare. A switch or whip.
1947 F.C. Slater Sel. Poems 77An irate father would greet them, Stinging their shrinking rumps with strokes of his well-known ’swazi, ’Swazi that bites like a bug and stings like an angry hornet.
B. adjective
1. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Swazi people.
1847 J. Boshof in S. Afr. Archival Rec.: Rec. of Natal Executive Council (1960) I. 208The numerous Amaswazi tribe is already nearing from the Pongola and beyond it, and settling in the Klipriver division in considerable numbers.
1852 R.B. Struthers Hunting Jrnl (1991) 6Several young men arrived from the army which had been fighting with the Amaswazi tribe who live over the Umpongolo River.
1859 Cape Town Weekly Mag. 21 Jan. 15They bring the news of their defeat by some three or four Amaswasi chiefs.
1880 Volkstem 2 Jan. 2When a renegade Swazie chief — we believe his name was Mapothla — was taken prisoner the Swazie General ordered some of his men to seize him.
1908 J.M. Orpen Reminisc. (1964) 272Moshesh told me that Wietzie had been out on commando to the north against a Swazi chief, Namandhla ka Impisi.
1943 D. Reitz No Outspan 70No European lived in this country and we encountered only wandering Swazi cattlemen.
1985 Fair Lady 16 Oct. 60My sister Zeni married into the Swazi royal family.
1991 Settler Vol.65 No.1, 3He normally carries his hand mirror and the typical Swazi stick, which has a fluted knob.
2. Special collocation Swazi print, a boldly-coloured cotton print.
1971 Drum Mar. 6Irene’s top and skirt are made up of Swazi print — a new material designed in Swaziland and doing nicely in the colour fashion stakes.
A member of a predominantly Nguni people living mainly in the Kingdom of Swaziland but also in the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga);
Any citizen of the Kingdom of Swaziland.
The language of the Swazi people; Swati sense 1. Also (occasionally) Siswazi.
A switch or whip.
Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Swazi people.
Special collocation Swazi print,a boldly-coloured cotton print.
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