toyi-toyi

noun

A dance from southern Africa, used especially during political protests.

OriginNorthern Ndebele [Term?] →
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Meanings

nountoyi-toyi (plural toyi-toyis)

plural toyi-toyis

  1. South AfricaZimbabweA dance from southern Africa, used especially during political protests.
verbtoyi-toyi (third-person singular simple present toyi-toyis, present participle toyi-toying, simple past and past participle toyi-toyied)

present singular third person toyi-toyis · participle present toyi-toying · participle past toyi-toyied · past toyi-toyied

  1. South AfricaZimbabweTo perform this dance.

    They are kids who get caught up in the excitement, hysteria of the period. You know, toyi-toying and hurling stones, and they are arrested and sentenced to a minimum five years on Robben Island.

    2017, Matthew Hahn, The Robben Island Shakespeare
    1 more example

    [H]e stood with his back against the chanting, toyi-toying boys, arms outstretched as a shield before them: the sergeant strangely distracted by the old authority enacted the same stance, but to hold his men back.

    2012, Nadine Gordimer, No Time Like the Present, Bloomsbury, published 2013, page 30

Origin

  1. Northern Ndebele[Term?]
  2. Englishtoyi-toyi

Seemingly from Northern Ndebele [Term?], but the ultimate origin is unclear.

More words from Northern Ndebele

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

toyi-toyi. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toyi-toyi

MLA

“toyi-toyi.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toyi-toyi. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “toyi-toyi,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toyi-toyi.

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