Union, noun

Origin:
EnglishShow more Special senses of general English union the action of uniting into one political body.
historical
1. The creation of the legislative confederacy of the South African state, by the South Africa Act of 1909.
1908 J.C. Smuts What They Said (1971) 222The political status of the natives is no doubt a very important matter, but vastly more important is the Union of South Africa.
1909 State July 4Till the last few days there was but little enthusiasm in Natal for the cause of South African Union.
1910 Rand Daily Mail 31 May 5The Act of Union comes into force today and South Africa takes her place as the latest great Confederation within the Empire.
1988 J. Sharp in Boonzaier & Sharp S. Afr. Keywords 88After Union, mining capital and progressive agriculture (the alliance between ‘maize’ and ‘gold’) dominated national politics.
1990 Frontline Mar.Apr. 20Back at Union, South Africa had about twice as many blacks as whites.
1992 Natal Mercury 25 Nov. 8The Mercury...was..after Union a fighter for Natal’s provincial rights.
2.
a. Elliptical for Union of South Africa: the South African state as a legislative confederacy; the territory of this state. Also attributive.
1909 in R.H. Brand Union of S. Afr. 142The words ‘the Union’ shall be taken to mean the Union of South Africa as constituted under this Act.
1928 V.G. Desai tr. of M.K. Gandhi’s Satyagraha in S. Afr. 28After the formation of the Union, Taal or Dutch and English are officially treated on a footing of equality throughout South Africa.
1928 E.A. Walker Hist. of S. Afr. 561Beyond sending a few men to Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, the Union had been unable to despatch troops far afield till the Hun had been driven from the gate.
1936 F.S. Malan in Cambridge Hist. of Brit. Empire VIII. 659The expression ‘colour bar’ as used in the Union means the exclusion of the natives from any skilled or semi-skilled work.
1939 J.C. Smuts in Hansard 4 Sept. 29It is in the interest of the Union that its relations with the German Reich should be severed.
1946 T. Macdonald Ouma Smuts 36Racialism is still the most deadly of all poisons which sap the energies of the Union.
1967 M.S. Geen Making of Union of S. Afr. 251In 1957 the Union flag was made the sole national flag of South Africa.
1977 T.R.H. Davenport S. Afr.: Mod. Hist. 289The Union became the Republic of South Africa on 31 May [1961] and its membership of the Commonwealth therefore ceased forthwith.
1980 A. Paton Towards Mountain 54The franchise could be amended or abolished by a two-thirds majority of a joint sitting of both houses of the new Union parliament. Thus the Union came into being.
b. combinations
Union Day, the 31st of May, observed as a public holiday from 1910 (and renamed Republic Day in 1961);
Union Loan Certificate historical, a security issued by the Union Government to raise funds, maturing after five years at a low interest rate.
1925 Off. Yr Bk of Union No. 7, 1924 (Union Office of Census & Statistics) 310The following are the statutory public holidays as prescribed in Act No. 3 of 1910: New Year’s Day..Union Day (31st May), [etc.].
1961 Off. Yr Bk of Union No. 30, 1960 (Bureau of Census & Statistics) 197The following are the statutory public holidays as prescribed in Act No. 5 of 1952: New Year’s Day..Union Day (31st May) [etc.].
1919 Act 20 in Stat. of Union 120In addition to the methods specified in the principal Act for the raising of money by the Governor-General, he is hereby empowered..to issue securities to be called ‘Union loan certificates...A Union loan certificate — (a) shall have on its face the amount thereof and the date of maturity. (b) shall be issued at a discount. (c) shall be repaid at its face value upon maturity which shall not be more than five years from the date of issue; and (d) shall in no case be for an amount exceeding five hundred pounds.
1933 Act 29 in Stat. of Union 204The control, mangagement, issue and repayment of Union Loan certificates issued on or after the first day of June, 1932, shall be vested in and entrusted to the Postmaster-General.
1977 F.G. Butler Karoo Morning 166Fifteen shillings would buy a Union Loan Certificate, which would mature into a pound in due course.
The creation of the legislative confederacy of the South African state, by the South Africa Act of 1909.
Elliptical for Union of South Africa: the South African state as a legislative confederacy; the territory of this state. Also attributive.
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19081992