User:Linshee/English words of African origin/pared down

Berber

 * couscous – from Ouargli ⵙⴽⵙⵓ (seksu), from Tashelhit. A North African pasta made of crushed and steamed semolina.

Egyptian

 * adobe – from ḏbt ("brick, block, ingot"). A building material made of earth or other organic materials.
 * ammonia – from   ("Amun"). A gaseous compound of hydrogen and nitrogen. Named a such because it was first found near a temple of Amun.
 * anise – from   (probably "anise"). A flowering plant whose seeds are often used as a spice.
 * barge – from   ("transport ship"). A flat-bottomed boat.
 * basalt – from bḫn  ("a hard rock"). A common igneous rock.
 * ebony – from   ("ebony wood; ebony tree"). A dense black hardwood.
 * gum – from qmyt ("acanthus resin, gum"). A sticky substance.
 * ibis – from   ("ibis"). A long-legged wading bird.
 * ivory – from   ("elephant; ivory"). Hard, white material from the tusks of elephants and other animals.
 * lily – from   ("flower; blossom"). A common flower.
 * oasis – from   ("cauldron"). A spring of fresh water in a desert.
 * pharaoh – from   ("palace; pharaoh"). A supreme ruler of Ancient Egypt.
 * phoenix – from   ("grey heron"). A mythological bird that is born again after death.

Coptic

 * halloumi – from (halōm, "cheese"). A semi-hard Cypriot cheese made of goat's and sheep's milk.
 * skete – from Ϣⲓϩⲏⲧ (Šihēt). A type of hermitage in Eastern Christianity.

Arabic

 * cotton – from Egyptian Arabic قُطُن‎ (quṭūn). A plant that is harvested and used as a fabric or cloth.
 * halloumi – from Egyptian Arabic حلوم (ḥālūm). A semi-hard Cypriot cheese made of goat's and sheep's milk.
 * loofah – from Egyptian Arabic لُوفَة‎ (lūfa). A tropical vine whose spongy interior is dried and used as a bathing sponge.

Ethiopian

 * abugida – from Geʽez አቡጊዳ (ʾäbugida "Geʽez script"). A type of segmental writing system.

Austronesian

 * aye-aye – from Malagasy aiay. A small, rodent-like lemur.

Khoe

 * gnu – from Nama. A large antelope with curved horns native to Africa.

Niger–Congo

 * cola – from some Niger–Congo language. The kola plant, famous for its nut, or one of these nuts. Also: A beverage or a drink made with kola nut flavoring, caramel and carbonated water.

Kwa

 * kente – from Twi. A type of fabric made of interwoven cloth strips, native to Ghana.
 * kwashiorkor – from Ga kwàṣìɔkɔ́ ("the sickness the older child gets when the next baby is born"). A form of malnutrition, found in children, caused by dietary insufficiency of protein in combination with a high carbohydrate diet.

Senegambian

 * banana – from Wolof  ("banana") via Spanish or Portuguese. An elongated curved tropical fruit that grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin.
 * chigger – from earlier , possibly from Wolof or Yoruba jiga ("insect"). A small tropical flea.

Volta–Congo

 * Bantu
 * basenji – from Lingala. A breed of dog from Central Africa.
 * banjo – perhaps from Bantu mbanza. A stringed instrument.
 * boda boda – from Swahili ', itself from English '. A bicycle or motorcycle used as a taxi.
 * bongo – probably from Lokele boungu, via American Spanish . A pair of small drums.
 * – from Swahili  ("master"), from Arabic. A big boss, important person.
 * chama – from Swahili  ("organization; society"). An informal cooperative society, usually for pooling and investing savings.
 * chikungunya – from Makonde chikungunya ("that which bends up", referring to the arthritic effects of the disease). A viral fever caused by the Chikungunya virus, an alphavirus spread by mosquito bites.
 * chimpanzee – from some Bantu language, possibly Vili ci-mpenzi. A great ape of the genus Pan, native to Africa, and believed by biologists to be the closest extant relative to humans.
 * cocopan – from Nguni nqukumbana. A small minecart.
 * dagga – from Shona. Earthen plaster.
 * dengue – possibly from Swahili dinga ("sudden attack; seizure") via Spanish. An acute febrile mosquito-borne tropical disease.
 * duppy – from Bube dupe ("ghost"). A Caribbean ghost or spirit, often appearing in the form of a dog barking or howling through the night.
 * goober – from Kongo  ("peanut"). A peanut.
 * gumbo – from Bantu ngombo, kingombo ("okra plant"). A soup or stew made with okra.
 * imbabala – from some Bantu language. A bushbuck, Tragelaphus sylvaticus, one of two species, ranging more into southern and eastern Africa than the other species, the harnessed bushbuck.
 * impala – from Zulu . An African antelope, Aepyceros melampus, noted for its leaping ability; the male has ridged, curved horns.
 * jenga – from Swahili  ("to build, construct"). A game where players try to remove a block from a tower of wooden blocks without toppling the tower.
 * jumbo – from the name of Jumbo, a large elephant, from Swahili ' ("hello") and ' ("chief"). Very large or powerful.
 * jumbie – from Kongo zumbi ("fetish"). A Caribbean ghost or evil spirit.
 * kadogo – from Swahili  ("little one"). A child soldier, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
 * kanga – from Swahili  ("kanga; guinea fowl"). A colourful printed cotton garment worn by women in East Africa.
 * kizomba – from Kimbundu kizomba ("party").
 * konzo – from Yaka. An epidemic paralytic disease associated with excessive consumption of cassava, which contains cyanide.
 * kwacha – from Chichewa  ("it has dawned"). The name of the currency of Malawi and Zambia.
 * lekgotla – from Tswana lekgotla ("a public place where consultation and judicial proceedings are conducted"). A consultative process between groups pursuing a common goal.
 * likembe – from Lingala likembé. A musical instrument found in sub-Saharan Africa; a kind of lamellophone.
 * lilangeni – from Swazi lilangeni. The currency of Swaziland.
 * loti – from Sotho loti ("mountain"). The basic monetary unit of the currency of the Kingdom of Lesotho.
 * macumba – from Kimbundu makôba. A religious cult, having elements of sorcery, ritual dance and fetishes, from Brazil.
 * mandazi – from Swahili . A form of fried bread from eastern Africa.
 * mahewu – from Zulu amaHewu. A sour beverage from Africa, made from cornmeal.
 * makoro – from Tswana . A dugout canoe, especially as used in the Okavango Swamps of Botswana.
 * makossa – from a Duala word meaning ("I dance"). A music genre from Cameroon, with a strong bass rhythm and prominent horn section.
 * mamba – from Zulu . Any of various venomous snakes of the genus Dendroaspis, native to Africa, that live in trees.
 * marabunta – from Kimbundu marimbonda ("Sceliphron spirifex"). The name of several large wasps known for their painful stings.
 * marimba – from some Bantu language, perhaps Kimbundu marimba ("xylophone"). A musical instrument similar to a xylophone but clearer in pitch.
 * matatu – from Swahili  ("three"), based on the original price of three shillings. A privately-owned minibus serving as share taxis.
 * matoke – from Luganda matooke. Mashed boiled bananas or plantains, a staple food in Uganda.
 * mbuna – from Tonga mbuna ("cichlid"). One of a group of haplochromine cichlids from Lake Malawi.
 * mganga – from Swahili . An African witch doctor.
 * miombo – from Bemba miombo. Any tree of the genus Brachystegia.
 * miraa – from Swahili . Khat.
 * mopane – from Tswana . A tree, Colophospermum mopane, native to southern Africa.
 * moqueca – from Kimbundu mukeka. A Brazilian stew based on fish, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and cilantro.
 * motlopi – from Tswana motlopi. An evergreen tree native to southern and tropical Africa, Boscia albitrunca; one of the most important forage trees of the Kalahari.
 * mpingo – from Swahili  ("ebony tree"}. A small African tree in the family Fabaceae.
 * msasa – from Shona musasa. A tree of Central Africa, Brachystegia spiciformis.
 * muti – from Zulu . ("tree, wood, medicine"). Traditional Southern African medicine.
 * mwenge – from Luganda . An alcoholic drink of Uganda, made with fermented bananas and sorghum.
 * mvule – from Swahili . A tropical African tree yielding iroko wood.
 * mzungu – from Swahili  ("wanderer"). A white person in East Africa.
 * nagana – from Zulu ulunakane, unakane. A disease of vertebrates in southern Africa, characterised by swelling and lethargy and caused by trypanosomes transmitted by tsetse flies.
 * nyala – probably from Tsonga nyala. A southern African antelope, Tragelaphus angasii.
 * pombe – from Swahili . Millet beer.
 * posho – from Swahili ' ("rations"), itself from English '. A food product made of cornmeal.
 * pula – from Tswana, Northern Sotho, Sotho . Rain. Also: the currency of Botswana.
 * quilombo – from Kimbundu kilombo. A remote, inland settlement originally settled by fugitive slaves (or others).
 * rungu – from Swahili . A wooden throwing club or baton used in certain East African tribal cultures.
 * sadza – from Shona sadza. A cooked, pulverized grain meal (stiff porridge) that is the staple food in Zimbabwe.
 * sangoma – from Zulu . A South African witch doctor, traditional herbalist, or traditional healer.
 * shongololo – from Xhosa, Zulu ukushonga ("to roll up"). A millipede.
 * safari – from Swahili  ("journey"), from Arabic. A trip into any undeveloped area to see, photograph or hunt wild animals in their own environment.
 * sengi – from Swahili sengi. An elephant shrew.
 * shifta – from Swahili . An outlaw, especially in Eastern Africa.
 * shilingi – from Swahili ', itself from English '.
 * shweshwe – from Sotho seShoeshoe, named after Moshoeshoe I. A patterned South African fabric.
 * tilapia – a latinization of Tswana  ("fish"). Any of various edible fish, of the genus Tilapia, native to Africa and the Middle East but naturalized worldwide.
 * thebe – from Tswana  ("shield"). 1/100 of a Botswana pula, the currency of Botswana.
 * tsetse – from Tswana . Any fly of the genus Glossina, native to Africa, that feeds on human and animal blood; known primarily as a carrier of parasitic trypanosomes.
 * umqombothi – from Xhosa. A beer made from maize, maize malt, sorghum malt, yeast and water, commonly found in South Africa.
 * vuvuzela – from Zulu vuvuzela ("to make a vu vu noise"). A trumpet-shaped horn, now usually plastic, that produces a loud buzzing sound.
 * zombie – from some Bantu language. A person, usually undead, animated by unnatural forces (such as magic), with no soul or will of his/her own.
 * Cross River
 * buckra – from Efik or Ibibio mbakara. A white person.
 * Volta–Niger
 * bocor – from Fon bokono. A voodoo practitioner who deals with malefic as well as beneficial effects; a sorcerer.
 * chigger – from earlier , possibly from Yoruba or Wolof jiga ("insect"). A small tropical flea.

Mande

 * nitta – from Mandinka nété. A tropical tree that has edible pods and seeds

Nilo-Saharan

 * nanga – from Acholi naŋa. A simple harp used in central and eastern Africa.
 * nyatiti – from Luo nyatiti. A traditional eight-stringed lyre.
 * okapi – from Mvuba okapi. A large ruminant mammal native to the rainforests of the Congo.

Creoles and pidgins

 * guyman – from Nigerian Pidgin guyman ("boy; cunning person"). A fraudster involved in an advance free scam.
 * khazi – possibly from Mediterranean Lingua Franca, via Polari and Italian. An outhouse, lavatory, toilet.
 * oyinbo – from Nigerian Pidgin , from a Yoruba word literally meaning "peeled-off skin". A white person.
 * tosheroon – from Mediterranean Lingua Franca, from Italian. A half-crown coin.