bwana

B3W4A1N1A1
/ˈbwɑːnə/

noun

Big boss, important person.

OriginSwahili bwana ← Arabic أَبُونَا (ʔabūnā) ← Proto-Semitic *ʔabw- →
UncommonScrabble 10
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Meanings

nounbwana (plural bwanas)

plural bwanas

  1. slangBig boss, important person.

    It is Jim C.’s custom always to say “Up Simba” in a fake-deep bwana voice as he hefts the camera to his right shoulder […]

    2005, David Foster Wallace, Consider the Lobster and Other Essays, New York: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 208

Origin

  1. Proto-Afroasiatic*ʔab-
  2. Proto-Semitic*ʔabw-
  3. Arabicأَبُونَا (ʔabūnā)
  4. Swahilibwana
  5. Englishbwana

Borrowed from Swahili bwana (“master”), from Arabic أَبُونَا (ʔabūnā, “our father”). Doublet of abbot.

More words from Swahili, Arabic

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with bwana

MontanaBotswanaghanaanadanaGuyananirvanaAmericanamanananaTijuanaiguanacabanapranaTiranaarcanakanaohanayanaAfricanabrewerianaDisneyanakatakanaliana
All rhymes →

Anagrams

nawabWaban
Cite this entry
APA

bwana. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bwana

MLA

“bwana.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bwana. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bwana,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bwana.

Source: bwana on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.