Etymology

djembe

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Today it means: A large, rope-tuned, skin-covered drum played with the bare hands, used in West African and some fusion music. Full definition →

French djembé ← Mandinka jembe
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The story

  1. Mandinka · derived fromjembe
  2. French · borrowed fromdjembé
  3. English todaydjembe

From French djembé, from Mandinka jembe which derives from the Bambara language, "djé" is the verb for "gather" and "bé" translates as "peace." As a result, "Anke djé, anke bé" which translates to "everyone gather together in peace" and defines the drum's purpose.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.