Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A member of a Zulu people of southwest Zimbabwe.
  • noun The Nguni language of the Ndebele, closely related to Zulu spoken in South Africa.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A people of South Africa.
  • proper noun A people of Zimbabwe.
  • proper noun Any of the languages spoken by these two peoples: North Ndebele and the not closely related South Ndebele

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a Bantu language sometimes considered a dialect of Zulu

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Ndebele -Ndebele (as in amaNdebele, Ndebele people, and isiNdebele, Ndebele language); perhaps akin to Sotho Matebele, Zulu peoples entering Sotho territories in the 19th century; see Matabele.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Ndebele.

Examples

  • Wayne, Willard, and Elias had a short talk in Ndebele, the sum of which was: We’re not going to get lucky twice.

    The Wire: David Petzal Tracks a Wounded Cape Buffalo 2009

  • She said when she arrived at the singer’s home, a mystery voice told her that she had to buy air tickets for the mermaids (injuza in Ndebele, or an imaginary sea creature fabled to have a woman’s head and upper body and a fish’s tail) which would track down the thieves who had stolen her car and cash.

    Enriching Our Economy Laban 2005

  • She said when she arrived at the singer’s home, a mystery voice told her that she had to buy air tickets for the mermaids (injuza in Ndebele, or an imaginary sea creature fabled to have a woman’s head and upper body and a fish’s tail) which would track down the thieves who had stolen her car and cash.

    Archive 2005-03-13 Laban 2005

  • Languages: English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects

    Zimbabwe 2009

  • Languages: English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects

    Zimbabwe 2008

  • ZimbabweEnglish (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects

    Languages 2008

  • The Ndebele are the descendants of the great Zulu peoples in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

    Zealotry or Zeal, when will we see a New Zimbabwe? 2007

  • The Ndebele are the descendants of the great Zulu peoples in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

    Archive 2007-07-01 2007

  • The Voortrekkers (front trekkers) were a vanguard of Boers who trekked out of the Cape Colony with ox-wagons in the 1830s to set up an ind The first were Nguni-speakers, known as the Ndebele, who named the area after one of their chiefs, called "Tshwane" which means "Little Ape".

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2005

  • The first were Nguni-speakers, known as the Ndebele who named the place Tshwane, which means "Little Ape".

    languagehat.com: TSHWANE AND BAILE NA NGALL. 2005

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.