Tambookie, noun and & adjective
/tæmˈbʊki/
- Forms:
- Show more Also Tamboekie, Tambokie, Tambooki, Tambouchi, Tambouki, Tambuckee, Tambucki, Tambuki, Tambukie, Tambukkie, Tambuqui, Tembookie, Tembuki, and occasionally with small initial.
- Plurals:
- Tambookies, or unchanged.
- Origin:
- South African DutchShow more Probably Englished form of South African Dutch Temboetje or Temboekie (Temboe Tembu + diminutive suffix -ie).
A. noun
1. obsolescent
a. Tembu noun sense 1 a. Occasionally (nonce), the language of the Tambookies (see quotation 1942).
1786 G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. II. 147On the other side of Zomo dwells another nation, who, by the Snese-Hottentots, are called Tambukis.
1977 F.G. Butler Karoo Morning 89A Xhosa..bore the badge of being Tambukie (Tembu): the third finger of his right hand was short of the final nail section. Tambukies are thus deprived in infancy, for mysterious reasons.
b. comb.
1835 T.H. Bowker Journal. 5 MayThe Missionarys & traders arrive this evening from Tambokie land.
1913 G.E. Cory Rise of S. Afr. II. 236Tambookieland, that is, the regions about the sources of the Zwart and White Kei Rivers, including the present districts of Queenstown, Glen Grey, St. Mark’s, Xalanga, Cathcart, with perhaps Wodehouse and the Elliot Slang River.
2. In full Tambookie grass (also with small initial): any of several species of tall, reed-like grasses used for thatching, especially those of the genera Cymbopogon, Hyparrhenia, and Miscanthidium; tambotie sense 2. See also dekgras, dekriet.
1837 J. Kirkman in F. Owen Diary (1926) 158The mother and child had hidden under the long Tambookie grass.
c1985 P. Sacks in Eng. Academy Rev. Vol.3 24Through a gate into the sweet tambookie grass, its reed-like spears lining the path.
3. rare. tambotie sense 1.
1858 Simmonds Dict. of TradeTambookie-wood, a hard handsome furniture-wood: when powdered it is used by the Zulus of Africa as an emetic.
4. In full tambookie thorn: the small tree Erythrina acanthocarpa of the Fabaceae, bearing sharp thorns and showy scarlet flowers; occasionally, E. humeana; the very light, soft wood of this tree.
1893 S. Schonland Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape) 11 Mar.I have sent according to your request a nice piece of Tambookie pith to Mr. Lawrence Hamilton.
1981 S. Afr. Garden & Home June 116Erythrina acanthocarpa, Tambookie thorn, is a spectacular shrub, bearing its flowers on bare branches.
B. adjective obsolescent Tembu adjective.
1801 W. Somerville Narr. of E. Cape Frontier (1979) 37We saw three of Guykas wives,..the last of Tambooki origin, an overgrown corpulent young woman was said to cost five hundred bullocks.
1987 K. Sutton in E. Prov. Herald 6 June 5The worst blizzards were thought to have been in September 1853, when many Tambookie people perished.
Tembu noun sense 1 a. Occasionally (nonce), the language of the Tambookies (see quotation 1942).
Tembuland (see Tembu noun sense 1 b)
In full Tambookie grass (also with small initial):any of several species of tall, reed-like grasses used for thatching, especially those of the genera Cymbopogon, Hyparrhenia, and Miscanthidium; tambotie sense 2.
Copyright © 2023 Dictionary Unit for South African English.