Word origins

• safariA trip into any undeveloped area to see, photograph or to hunt wild animals in their own environment.
• UgandaA country in East Africa. Official name: Republic of Uganda.
• jumboEspecially large or powerful.
• SwahiliA member of various ethnic groups — mainly Bantu, Afro-Arab and Comorian — inhabiting the Swahili coast.
• baoAny of various types of steamed bread or bun used in Chinese cuisine
• KilimanjaroA volcano in Tanzania, the highest peak in Africa at 5,895 meters (19,321 feet).
• KwanzaaA week-long African-American cultural holiday held between December 26 and January 1.
• MombasaA large coastal city in Kenya, the second-largest city in Kenya.
• pombeAn African beer made from millet.
• SimbaThe Western Bolivian Guaraní language, ISO language code gnw.
• tangaAny of various former Asian coins, including: a coin of Portuguese India worth one tenth of a rupee; a gold coin of India issued by various Muslim rulers; a silver coin of India, also issued by Muslim rulers; and a former silver coin of Tibet.
• debeA tin container used for kerosene etc.
• KiswahiliSwahili, an agglutinative Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa.
• bomaAn enclosure usually made of thorn bushes, and latterly of steel fencing, for protection from marauders.
• uhurufreedom
• TanganyikaSynonym of Lake Tanganyika, a lake in Africa.
• johoA woolen robe worn by Arabs.
• kangaA comb, required to be worn at all times by Sikhs, one of the five Ks.
• chamaAny of several types of informal cooperative society.
• dawaA medicine, particularly a native one or one used by witch doctors.
• sandaA Chinese martial art, self-defense system, and combat sport, similar to kick-boxing.
• imanifaith (in the context of African-American culture)
• sokoA species of African ape, supposedly a variety of the chimpanzee.
• JengaA game where players take turns removing wooden blocks from a stack formed brickwise, the loser being the player whose actions cause the tower to collapse.
• bwanaBig boss, important person.
• KirundiThe standardized dialect of the Bantu language Rwanda-Rundi which is spoken in Burundi.
• sentiSentimental, emotional.
• askariA member of a local African military or police unit, usually one serving in a European colonial force.
• pangaA large broad-bladed knife.
• JabariA male given name from Swahili of modern African American usage.
• mogocassava
• harambeeA traditional Kenyan community self-help event or organization.
• ZuriA unisex given name from Swahili, of modern African American usage
• fundiA master of a particular skill; an expert.
• mzeeAn elder (old person).
• shetaniAn evil spirit from East African mythology, often the subject of artwork.
• ngomaA large social dancing event in parts of Africa.
• dukaA shop, store.
• ujimaCollective work and responsibility, in the context of African-American culture.
• ujamaaA socialist ideology of cooperation and collective advancement that formed the basis of socioeconomic policies in Tanzania in the 1960s.
• asiliThe central seed or "germinating matrix" of a culture.
• barazaA council or assembly in parts of East Africa.
• boda-bodaA bicycle or motorcycle used as a taxi.
• buibuiSynonym of chador (“Muslim women's garment”).
• Central ProvinceA province of Sri Lanka. Capital: Kandy.
• chipsi mayaiA kind of potato-egg omelette popular in Tanzania.
• daladalaSynonym of shared taxi.
• DamuBlood (a member of the Los Angeles gang the Bloods)
• Eastern ProvinceA province of Sri Lanka. Capital: Trincomalee.
• frasilaA unit of weight, about 35 pounds, once used in trade with Africa.
• guniaA sack.
• hakuna matataNo worries, take it easy.
• hurry hurry has no blessingshaste makes waste; more haste, less speed
• Jamhuri DayA national holiday celebrated on December 12, commemorating when Kenya became independent.
• jembeA kind of hoe (digging tool).
• jikoA portable stove of the type common in Africa.
• jua kaliThe informal economy; self-employment other than agriculture.
• kachumbariAn uncooked dish of chopped tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers in African cuisine.
• kadogoA child soldier. Usually refers to the eastern Congolese rebel armies that used numerous child soldiers.
• kanzuA white or cream-coloured robe worn by men in the African Great Lakes region.
• karamuThe feast eaten as part of Kwanzaa celebrations.
• KawaidaA secular humanist Pan-Africanist philosophy introduced by Maulana Karenga in the 1960s.
• kikoiA piece of colored cloth used as clothing in Africa, wrapped around the waist and legs or shoulders.
• Kikombe cha UmojaAny cup used for pouring libations to honor ancestors and communal drinking at dinner during the Kwanzaa holiday
• KilindiniA harbour and port adjacent to Mombasa, Kenya.
• kinaraA candle holder used in Kwanzaa celebrations.
• kofiaA brimless cylindrical cap with a flat crown, worn by men in East Africa.
• kongoniA type of hartebeest from East Africa.
• kujichaguliaself-determination (in the context of African-American culture)
• kungwiA teacher of sexual topics in the Swahili unyago ritual.
• MaafaThe history of slavery and anti-black racism and discrimination in the United States; the historical enslavement of Africans and associated atrocities, under the interpretation of these as a genocide against them.
• mabatiMetal sheeting, often corrugated iron.
• machingaA street vendor; a hawker.
• Madaraka DayA national holiday celebrated on June 1, commemorating when Kenya gained self-rule.
• majimboThe political devolution of power to the individual regions of Kenya.
• majimboismThe political devolution of power to the regions of a country.
• mama mbogaA female vegetable hawker.
• mama ntilieA female food hawker.
• mandaziA form of fried bread from eastern Africa.
• mashuaA root vegetable grown in the Andes, Tropaeolum tuberosum.
• Mashujaa DayA Kenyan national holiday celebrated on October 20.
• matatuA minivan used as a shared taxi, especially one operating without a licence.
• mazukuA pocket of carbon-dioxide-rich air that accumulates near the ground and can be lethal to humans and animals.
• mbogavegetable
• mgangaAn African medicine man.
• mitumbaSecond-hand clothing, especially that provided by aid agencies and subsequently sold.
• mkekaThe decorative mat on which ceremonial symbols are laid out during Kwanzaa celebrations.
• mlolongoA system of voting held in Kenya during the Moi era where voters would line up behind their favored candidates contrary to a secret ballot.
• mpingoSynonym of African blackwood
• muawiThe name used in the 19th and early 20th centuries for a poisonous tree native to Mozambique whose bark was being studied for its pharmaceutical properties. Later sources determined it to be the same as sassywood, Erythrophleum suaveolens, to which it was often compared by earlier writers.
• mvuleIroko (Milicia excelsa), a tropical African tree yielding valuable wood.
• mwalimuA teacher in parts of Africa.
• mzunguA white person.
• panga pangaA tree of the African species Millettia stuhlmannii, or its wood.
• panya routeA secret trail or road used for illegal activities such as smuggling.
• poshoPosh.
• runguA member of an ethnic people of Borneo.
• sambazaThe Lake Tanganyika sardine, Limnothrissa miodon.
• sengiAny of several small, insectivorous long-nosed mammals, of the family Macroscelididae within the Macroscelidea order, native to Africa.
• shambaAn area of cultivated ground; a plot of land, a small subsistence farm for growing crops and fruit-bearing trees, often including the dwelling of the farmer.