ubukwetha, noun

Forms:
Also ubukhwetha, ubukweta.
Origin:
IsiXhosaShow more IsiXhosa, the seclusion period, and the place of seclusion, for initiates to manhood.
abakwetha sense 2.
1856 J.C. Warner in J. Maclean Compendium of Kafir Laws (1906) 95[The] state of initiation is called ‘ubukweta,’ the boys themselves being termed ‘abakweta.’
1891 T.R. Beattie Pambaniso 215A Kaffir male who has not been circumcised is regarded as a boy, even though he be a full-grown man. The rite is known as Ubukweta, and those who are undergoing it are called Abakweta. The term Ubukweta or circumcision begins generally in December and lasts for six or eight months. During this period the Abakweta are isolated in huts by themselves, and a man is appointed to attend to them and look after their wants.
1905 W.H. Tooke in Flint & Gilchrist Science in S. Afr. 88Circumcision, as in nearly all South African Bantu, is practised with elaborate rites. It is called ubukweta, and the corresponding rite among the girls intonjane.
1964 G. Gordon Four People 80Although they still cling to their tribal customs like ubukhwetha, the School- and Church-people did not daub their bodies with yellow ochre or drape themselves in blankets like the ignorant pagans.
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18561964