utamawazo

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noun

culturally structured thought or worldview

OriginSwahili wazo ← Arabic تَمَدُّن (tamaddun) ← Proto-Bantu *bʊ̀- →
Scrabble 23
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Meanings

nounutamawazo (uncountable)
  1. uncountableanthropologyculturally structured thought or worldview

Origin

  1. Proto-Bantu*dʊ̀-
  2. Proto-Bantu*bʊ̀-
  3. Swahiliu-
  4. Arabicتَمَدَّنَ (tamaddana)
  5. Arabicتَمَدُّن (tamaddun)
  6. Swahiliutamaduni
  7. Swahiliwazo
  8. Englishutamawazo

From a blend of Swahili utamaduni (“culture”) and wazo (“thought”); introduced in this sense by Marimba Ani in 1994.

More words from Swahili

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

utamawazo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/utamawazo

MLA

“utamawazo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/utamawazo. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “utamawazo,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/utamawazo.

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