Dictionary

mzee en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /(ə)mˈzeɪ/ (UK)

Etymology

Borrowed from Swahili mzee.

Meanings

1. (Africa, East) An elder (old person).
   • Kenyatta was recognized at the time of his death in mid-1978 as Mzee, "the wise old one," not only by his own people but by a wide array of world leaders. 1993, Funk & Wagnalls Corporation, Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, volume 15, page 233:
   • It is difficult to be both and the older mzees resent the irregularity of the position. 2005, Ernest Hemingway, Robert William Lewis, Under Kilimanjaro:
   • ...every President since Teddy Roosevelt saw Africa in the faces of her mzees, in their English suits or tribal robes... 2003, Ward S Just, The American Ambassador:
   • ...we arranged an impromptu interview with this reluctant and less than candid local mzee, who lived near the Tsavo boundary. 2006, Edward I Steinhart, Black poachers, white hunters: a social history of hunting in colonial Kenya:

Forms

Synonyms

senior citizen · senior