Meanings
- South AfricauncountableA form of porridge made from maize meal.First known use 20th c.
Theo and I would join the servants for breakfast, squatting on our haunches round the three-legged iron pot, helping ourselves to tough putu porridge in our cupped hands.
1978, André Brink, Rumours of Rain, Vintage, published 2000, page 3281 more example
Jonathan is volunteering to carve the leg of lamb that was decided on, although there's putu with beans as well as roast potatoes Reed style (or what Jabu knows as white style).
2012, Nadine Gordimer, No Time Like the Present, Bloomsbury, published 2013, page 242
Origin
- Zuluuphuthu
- Afrikaansputu
- Englishputu
From Afrikaans putu, or its source, Zulu uphuthu.
More words from Afrikaans, Zulu
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans poetoe, putu
- poetoemaize porridge
- putumaize porridge
Russian мамалыга
- мамалыга (mamalyga)maize porridge
Cite this entry
putu. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/putu
“putu.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/putu. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “putu,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/putu.
Source: putu on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.