Zulu, noun and & adjective
- Forms:
- Show more Formerly also Zoola, Zoolaa, Zoolah, Zooler, Zooloo, Zoolu, Zoulah, Zoulou, Zula, Zulo, Zuloe, Zuloo, and (occasionally) with small initial.
- Origin:
- IsiZuluShow more IsiZulu noun stem -Zulu, found in words such as amaZulu Zulus, the Zulu people or clan collectively (singular umZulu), isiZulu the Zulu language, and uZulu the Zulu people; as interjection, uttered in praise of the Zulu king.
- Note:
- From the name of uZulu (dates unknown, probably died c1709), the founding leader of the dominant amaZulu clan, the name of which was later assumed by the consolidated chiefdoms under it (see note at sense A 1). UZulu’s name was derived from izulu sky, a word which later also came to mean ‘heaven’. Through misunderstanding of its derivation, amaZulu has often been taken to mean ‘sky people’ or ‘people of heaven’, but a strictly correct interpretation would be ‘people of uZulu (the clan founder)’.
- Note:
- In addition to the senses given below, there are senses of ‘Zulu’ which have developed outside South Africa and which are used internationally; these will be found in general dictionaries of English.
A. noun
1.
a. Plural Zulus, amaZulu, or unchanged. A member of an African people of the Nguni group, living mainly in KwaZulu-Natal. See also Vatua sense b. Also attributive.
- Note:
- The Zulu people was formed by the unification, mainly from 1818 onwards, of a number of Nguni clans and chiefdoms living in what has become the northern half of KwaZulu-Natal. A major factor in this consolidation was the conquest of other groups by the amaZulu chiefdom led by Shaka, who became the first king of the unified group. See also Mfecane.
1824 in J.S. Christopher Natal (1850) 21Chaka, king of the Zulus, to whom belongs the whole of the country from Natal to Dela Goa Bay.
1990 New African 16 July 6Zulu said the people have been told that the African National Congress..is for AmaXhosa and there were no Zulus in it.
b. combination
Zululand, the area ruled by Zulus for much of the eighteenth century, roughly that area of KwaZulu-Natal to the north of the Tugela River; at one time the official name of this area, but usually an informal name; also attributive; hence Zululander, one (not necessarily a Zulu) who lives in Zululand.
c. nonce. The Zulu: The area inhabited by the Zulus.
1875 D. Leslie Among Zulus 31I am now on my way home. This is my eighth Sunday in the Zulu. I don’t know what sort of trip I have made.
2. Occasionally also isiZulu. The language of this people, being a Sintu (Bantu) language of the Nguni group.
1839 W.C. Harris Wild Sports 150Andries could stutter tolerably in Sichuana, and possessed a smattering of zooloo, and we thus hoped to be able to proceed without the aid of a sworn interpreter.
1988 New Nation 10 Mar. 15I would like to learn to speak Zulu and have purchased a set of cassettes and numerous books.
3. Plural Zulus. An indigenous breed of cattle: Nguni sense 3. See also sense B 3 below.
1852 C. Barter Dorp & Veld 155 (Pettman)Oxen of the..Fatherland breed,..though highly prized are surpassed for all working purposes by the light and hardy Zulus.
c1963 B.C. Tait Durban Story 4A span of 16 Zulus (the term for small oxen)..were harnessed to the cart.
B. adjective.
- Note:
- Some of the uses cited below might more correctly be considered attributive uses of the noun.
1. Also AmaZulu. Of or pertaining to the Zulu people, or their culture or traditions.
1827 G. Thompson Trav. 408I accompanied Messrs. Farewell, Fynn, and several other seamen, with about forty natives, on a journey to King Chaka, of the Zoola nation.
1992 B. Keller in Scope 13 Nov. 90In their zeal to do away with Zulu values and Zulu discipline, they’ve trained their young to attack anyone who is Zulu.
2. Of, pertaining to, or in the language of the Zulu people.
1836 L. Grout in D.J. Kotze Lett. of American Missionaries (1950) 102We now have the prospect of entering immediately upon the work of reducing the Zoolah language to writing.
3. Of or pertaining to an indigenous breed of cattle (see sense A 3 above).
1846 Natal Witness 27 Mar. (advt)Wanted, by the Undersigned, 30 to 40 Fat Zulu Oxen. P. Ferreira Pietermaritzburg.
4. combination
1880 S.F. Colenso in W. Rees Colenso Lett. from Natal (1958) 352It will be painful to my dear Husband. But he has had much to suffer — this Zulu War with all its attendant horrors.
1987 L. Capstickdale in S. Afr. Panorama Aug. 45Other rare items are..books on the Zulu War of 1879; [etc.].
A member of an African people of the Nguni group, living mainly in KwaZulu-Natal.
, the area ruled by Zulus for much of the eighteenth century, roughly that area of KwaZulu-Natal to the north of the Tugela River; at one time the official name of this area, but usually an informal name; also attributive; hence Zululander, one (not necessarily a Zulu) who lives in Zululand.
Occasionally also isiZulu.The language of this people, being a Sintu (Bantu) language of the Nguni group.
Plural Zulus.An indigenous breed of cattle: Nguni sense 3.
Of, pertaining to, or in the language of the Zulu people.
Of or pertaining to an indigenous breed of cattle (see sense A 3 above).
- Derivatives:
- Hence Zulu intransitive verb nonce, in the phrase Zulu it [formed by analogy with general English lord it], to dominate (an area) as the Zulus were seen to do; Zuludom noun, the area inhabited by Zulus; Zuluize transitive verb, to bring (a word) into a form suited to the Zulu language; so Zuluization noun, the act or an instance of bringing (a word) into a form suited to the Zulu language; Zuluized participial adjective, (of a word) brought into such a form; (of a person) not Zulu in origin, but assimilated into Zulu society; Zuluness noun, the quality or state of being a Zulu.1992 B. Nzimande in Natal Witness 6 Nov. 1How can Buthelezi say we must fight for Zuluness...Zulus are fighting for freedom. Zuluness will not liberate them; the ideals of the Freedom Charter will.
Copyright © 2023 Dictionary Unit for South African English.