manyatta

M3A1N1Y4A1T1T1A1

noun

A Masai or Samburu settlement or compound, often temporary, established by a family or clan, or as an encampment of young warriors.

OriginMaasai manyatta →
First used 20th c.Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounmanyatta (plural manyattas)

plural manyattas

  1. AfricaEastA Masai or Samburu settlement or compound, often temporary, established by a family or clan, or as an encampment of young warriors.First known use 20th c.

    The Masai tribes, or sections of tribes, haunt certain districts. Every section has usually some three favourite districts, in each of which is a village called a manyatta.

    1901, Sidney Langford Hinde, The Last of the Masai
    1 more example

    All of the inhabitants worked together for two full moon cycles to build their manyattas, bomas for the cows and a fence that spanned the length of two big football pitches to protect everyone from the lions.

    2012, Jackson Ntirkana, Wilson Meikuaya, The Last Maasai Warriors: An Autobiography

Origin

  1. Maasaimanyatta
  2. Englishmanyatta

Borrowed from Maasai manyatta.

More words from Maasai

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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