Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A band of African warriors; a native military expedition.
- noun A band of African warriors; a native military expedition.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun South Africa A body of Kaffir warriors; a body of native armed men.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A group of Zulu (or other Bantu)
warriors ; a detachment of armed men.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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They claimed to have been attacked by an ANC "impi" which they drove back, killing 12 people in the process.
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Durban, when he saw a 600-strong "impi" mob armed with cultural weapons and guns converge on several homesteads.
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No "impi," or native regiment, can now sweep down on him and "eat him up," that is, carry off his cattle, put his kraal to the flames, and himself, his people, his wives, and children to the assegai.
Cetywayo and his White Neighbours Remarks on Recent Events in Zululand, Natal, and the Transvaal Henry Rider Haggard 1890
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Meanwhile a Zulu 'impi' or army, numbering about twenty thousand men, or something more than one-third of King Cetywayo's entire strength, had moved from the Upindo Hill on the night of January 21, and taken up its position on a stony plain, a mile and a half to the east of Isandhlwana.
The True Story Book Andrew Lang 1878
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The TRC confirmed the "impi" had gone on a killing spree not just against other men, but also against women and children.
AWID RSS Feed 2009
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It would go ill with the 'impi' which tried to take that kraal. "
The People of the Mist Henry Rider Haggard 1890
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You see, with our wagon blown to pieces he and I lit out on two of the draught screws, leaving the wounded in a dry cave, Moran intent on fetching help for them, Flashy merely fleeing in his wake - and as dark fell we blundered slap into an impi, for the hills were full of the brutes by now.
Watershed 2010
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Following Lord Chelmsford's departure at dawn, various detachments had been sent out from Pulleine's camp under the Isandhlwana hill as advance pickets and to deal with small groups of Zulus who had appeared; the largest of these detachments, Colonel Durnford's, encountered a powerful impi and was forced to beat a fighting retreat towards the camp, where Pulleine was already under attack.
Watershed 2010
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It goze awn tu sai rwelees wodewikk, wodnee, etc, etc, awl tu mayk fun ov teh emprerz speetch impi..emped..rong fings.
Release Teh Tadpoles! - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2010
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It iz impi… impere… vital dat faeries carry lotsa lols tu plant in such areas tu prevent lolen from groeing there.
Twinkles immediately - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008
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