umzi, umuzi, noun

/ˈʊmzi//ʊˈmʊːzi/
Forms:
Also u-mizi, umsi.
Also with medial capital.
Origin:
IsiXhosa, isiZulu, isiNdebeleShow more IsiXhosa umzi, isiZulu and isiNdebele umuzi.
In Xhosa, Zulu, and Ndebele society: a village; a group of dwellings under one headman; cf. kraal noun sense 1 a and 2 a.
1835 A. Steedman Wanderings I. 17Such is the avidity with which the natives of Cafferland importune those who visit their umzis or villages, for presents of beads,..that a traveller must never fail to provide himself with a considerable quantity.
1860 A.W. Drayson Sporting Scenes 18Kraal is a Dutch term, and means an inclosure for animals. I fancy that they call the Kaffirs’ residences by this name to indicate their contempt for the people; the Kaffirs call their villages ‘umsi’.
1970 A. Fulton I Swear to Apollo 47The doctor’s jeep..pulled up in a great cloud of dust in the in-kundla between the cattle-kraal and the huts of Debe’s u-mizi.
1986 N. Dubow in Leadership Vol.5 No.4, 114The architectural constituents of the Ndebele art, starting with its total application to the compound (kraal or umuzi).
1988 J. Smith Streams to Rivers 16A Pondo umzi in Natal.
1988 Eva Sept. 58The Zulu village or uMuzi.
a village; a group of dwellings under one headman;
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IsiXhosa
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umvubo, nounn.umzimbeet, umzimbithi, umzimbiti, nounn.
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