Dictionary

abelungu en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /abəˈlʊŋɡuː/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀dʊ̀ngʊ̀ Xhosa ábélungubor. Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀dʊ̀ngʊ̀ Zulu abélungubor. English abelungu Borrowed from Xhosa ábélungu (plural of úḿlungu), or borrowed from Zulu abélungu (plural of uḿlungu).

Meanings

1. (South-Africa, countable, derogatory, uncountable) White people collectively.
   • Chief Joyi said that the African people lived in relative peace until the coming of the abelungu, the white people, who arrived from across the sea with fire-breathing weapons. 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 27:

Forms