English Words Of African Origin

The following list names English words that originate from African languages.

* Adinkra – from Akan, visual symbols that represent concepts or aphorisms.
*Andriana – from Malagasy, aristocratic noble class of the Kingdom of Madagascar
*apartheid – from Afrikaans, "separateness"
*Aṣẹ - from Yoruba, "I affirm" or "make it happen"
*ammonia – from the Egyptian language in reference to the god Amun
* Bantu - from Bantu languages, "people"
*babalawo – from Yoruba, priest of traditional Yoruba religion
*banana – adopted from Wolof via Spanish or Portuguese
*banjo – from Mandinka ''bangoe'', which refers to the Akonting
*basenji – breed of dog from Central Africa – Congo, Central African Republic etc.
*Biafran – extremely skinny (reference to the widespread starvation that occurred in Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War).
* boma – from Swahili
* bongo – West African
* buckra – "white man or person", from Efik and Ibibio ''mbakara''
* Buharism - policies of Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari, especially during his rule as a military dictator.
* bwana – from Swahili, meaning "husband, important person or safari leader"
*chigger – possibly from Wolof and/or Yoruba ''jiga'' "insect"
*chimpanzee – loaned in the 18th century from a Bantu language, possibly Kivili ''ci-mpenzi''.
*chimurenga – from Shona, "revolution" or "liberation"
*cola – from West African languages ( Temne ''kola'', Mandinka ''kolo'')
*dengue – possibly from Swahili ''dinga''
*djembe – from West African languages
*ebony – from Ancient Egyptian ''hebeni''
* fanimorous – from Yoruba "fani mọ́ra" meaning "to attract people to you"
*gerenuk – from Somali. A long-necked antelope in Eastern Africa (Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Djibouti)
*gnu – from Khoisan ''!nu'' through Khoikhoi ''i-ngu'' and Dutch ''gnoe''
* goober – possibly from Bantu (Kikongo)
*gumbo – from Bantu Kongo languages ''ngombo'' meaning "okra"
*hakuna matata – from Swahili, "no trouble" or "no worries"
*impala – from Zulu ''im-pala''
*impi – from Zulu language meaning "war, battle or a regiment"
* indaba – from Xhosa or Zulu languages – "stories" or "news" typically conflated with "meeting" (often used in South African English)
*japa – from Yoruba, "to flee"
*jazz – possibly from Central African languages ( Kongo) From the word ''jizzi”.
*jenga – from the Swahili verb ''kujenga'' meaning "to build".
* jive – possibly from Wolof ''jev''
*juke, jukebox – possibly from Wolof and Bambara through Gullah
*jumbo – from Swahili (''jambo'' "hello" or from Kongo ''nzamba'' "elephant")
*kalimba
*Kwanzaa – a recent coinage (Maulana Karenga 1965) for the name of an African American holiday, abstracted from the Swahili phrase ''matunda ya kwanza'', meaning "first fruits f the harvest
*kwashiorkor – from Ga language, coastal Ghana, meaning "swollen stomach"
* lapa – from Sotho languages – '"enclosure" or "barbecue area" (often used in South African English)
*macaque – from Bantu ''makaku'' through Portuguese and French
*mamba – from Zulu or Swahili ''mamba''
*marimba – from Bantu (Kongo languages)
*marímbula – plucked musical instrument (lamellophone) of the Caribbean islands
* merengue (dance) – possibly from Fulani meaning "to shake or quiver"
*Mobutism – state ideology of Mobutu Sese Seko, the dictator of Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo)
*mojo – from Kongo '' Moyoo'' "medicine man" through Louisiana Creole French or Gullah
* mumbo jumbo – from Mandingo
* mtepe – from Swahili, "boat"
* mzungu – from Bantu languages, "wanderer"
*nitrogen – from the Egyptian language. The salt natron, transliterated as ''nṯrj''.
*obeah – from West African (Efik ''ubio'', Twi ''ebayifo'')

*okapi – from a language in the Congo
*okra – from Igbo ''ókùrù''
*orisha – from Yoruba, "deity"
* Osu – from Igbo, traditional caste system
* oyinbo – from Yoruba, "skinless" or "peeled skin"
*safari – from Swahili ''journey'', ultimately from Arabic
* sambo – Fula ''sambo'' meaning "uncle"
* sangoma – from Zulu – "traditional healer" (often used in South African English)
* shea – A tree and the oil Shea butter which comes from its seeds, comes from its name in Bambara
*tango – probably from Ibibio
*tilapia – possibly a Latinization of "tlhapi", the Tswana word for "fish"
*tsetse – from a Bantu language (Tswana ''tsetse'', Luhya )
*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"
* uhuru – from Swahili, "freedom".
*Ujamaa – from Swahili, "fraternity". Socialist policies of Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere.
* vodou – from West African languages ( Ewe and Fon ''vodu'' "spirit")
*vuvuzela – musical instrument, name of Zulu or Nguni origin
* yam – West African ( Fula ''nyami'', Twi ''anyinam'')
*zebra – of unknown origin, recorded since c. 1600, from Portuguese ‘ezebro’, used of an Iberian animal, in turn possibly ultimately from Latin ‘equiferus’, but a Congolese language, or alternatively Amharic have been put forward as possible origins
*zimbabwe – from Shona, "house of stones" or "venerated houses"
*zombie – likely from West African (compare Kikongo ''zumbi'' "fetish", but alternatively derived from Spanish ''sombra'' "shade, ghost"

References

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English words and phrases
African