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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

matatu en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /məˈtætuː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /məˈtɑˌtu/ (General-American)
  • (Kenya) audio
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Bantu *mà- Proto-Sabaki *ma- Swahili ma- Proto-Bantu *-tátʊ̀ Swahili -tatu Swahili matatubor. English matatu Borrowed from Swahili matatu, from ma- + -tatu (“three”).

Meanings

  1. (Kenya, Uganda) A minivan used as a shared taxi, especially one operating without a licence.
    • A matatu is also more profitable when driven by its owner than by an employed driver, or if the employee-driver pays in all the earnings and the owner meets the operating costs, rather than when the owner demands a fixed sum of money daily, with the operator keeping the surplus. 1982, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements Habitat News:
    • Memories of their sense of trepidation, or even the anger, aboard a matatu could still be visceral. 2017, Kenda Mutongi, Matatu: A History of Popular Transportation in Nairobi, page 98:
    • For now, matatus made lanes along both sides of tarmac main roads and went over, around or through potholes depending on their speed. 2010, Philo Ikonya, Leading the Night, page 102:
    • The roads were jammed with matatu minibuses sporting cartoonish liveries, and trucks billowing black smoke into the dazzling African light. 2024 January 13, David Pilling, “Revenge of the moderators”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 15:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
matatu Number=Plur lexicographic
matatus Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

matatu culture

Hypernyms

shared taxi · gypsy cab

Relateds

manamba · makanga

Synonyms

mathree · daladala

Translations (8)

fi reittitaksi (minivan often used as a share taxi — see also minivan, shared taxi) · sw shedhi (minivan often used as a share taxi — see also minivan, shared taxi) · uk матату (minivan often used as a share taxi — see also minivan, shared taxi) · sw matatu (minivan often used as a share taxi — see also minivan, shared taxi) · uk матрей (minivan often used as a share taxi — see also minivan, shared taxi) · sw moshogi (minivan often used as a share taxi — see also minivan, shared taxi) · sw daladala (minivan often used as a share taxi — see also minivan, shared taxi) · fi matatu (minivan often used as a share taxi — see also minivan, shared taxi)