Etymology

sengi

sen·gi
S1E1N1G2I1

Today it means: Any of several small, insectivorous long-nosed mammals, of the family Macroscelididae within the Macroscelidea order, native to Africa. Full definition →

Swahili sengi
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sengi · noun1

  1. Swahili · borrowed fromsengi
  2. English todaysengi

Borrowed from Swahili sengi, probably from another Bantu language (compare Giryama sanje).

sengi · noun2

  1. French · derived fromcinq“five”
  2. Kongo · borrowed fromsengi
  3. English todaysengi

PIE word *pénkʷe Borrowed from Kongo sengi, senki, from French cinq (“five”) (in the sense of five sous). Doublet of cinque, fin (“five currency units”), finnuf, five, pimp (“five”), ponzu, and punch (“beverage”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.