Kwanzaa – recent coinage (
Maulana Karenga 1965) as the name of a "specifically African-American holiday", abstracted from a
Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "
first fruits [of the harvest]".
lapa – from
Sotho languages – enclosure or barbecue area (often used in South African English)
macaque – from Bantu makaku through Portuguese and French
ubuntu –
Nguni term for "mankind; humanity", in South Africa since the 1980s also used capitalized, Ubuntu, as the name of a philosophy or ideology of "human kindness" or "humanism".
vuvuzela – musical instrument, name of Zulu or Nguni origin
zebra – of unknown origin, recorded since c. 1600, possibly from a
Congolese language, or alternatively from Amharic.
zombie – likely from West African (compare Kikongo zumbi "fetish", Kimbundu nzambi "god")
Non-Bantu West African origin
azawakh - probably from
Fula or
Tuareg. A breed of dogs from West and North Africa
Kwanzaa – recent coinage (
Maulana Karenga 1965) as the name of a "specifically African-American holiday", abstracted from a
Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "
first fruits [of the harvest]".
lapa – from
Sotho languages – enclosure or barbecue area (often used in South African English)
macaque – from Bantu makaku through Portuguese and French
ubuntu –
Nguni term for "mankind; humanity", in South Africa since the 1980s also used capitalized, Ubuntu, as the name of a philosophy or ideology of "human kindness" or "humanism".
vuvuzela – musical instrument, name of Zulu or Nguni origin
zebra – of unknown origin, recorded since c. 1600, possibly from a
Congolese language, or alternatively from Amharic.
zombie – likely from West African (compare Kikongo zumbi "fetish", Kimbundu nzambi "god")
Non-Bantu West African origin
azawakh - probably from
Fula or
Tuareg. A breed of dogs from West and North Africa