English words of African origin

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English words of African origin

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This is a list of English language words that come from any of the Sub-Saharan African languages. It excludes placenames except where they have become common words.

aardvark - Afrikaans word, meaning earth (or ground) pig
apartheid - Afrikaans policy of separate development/living
banana - West African, possibly Wolof banana
banjo - probably Bantu mbanza
basenji- breed of dog from the Congo
biltong - from Afrikaans - cured meat (often used in South African English)
bongo - West African boungu
braai - from Afrikaans - barbecue (often used in South African English)
buckra - from Efik and Ibibio mbakara "master"^[1]
bwana - from swahili
chachacha possibly from Kimbundu, onomatopoeia for ringing bells or rattles worn around the legs of a female dancers.
chigger - possibly from Wolof and Yoruba jiga "insect")
chimpanzee - from a Bantu language, possibly Tshiluba kivili-chimpenze
cola - from West African languages (Temne kola, Mandinka kolo)
coffee - disputed; either from the Ethiopian region/Kingdom of Kaffa, where coffee originated, or Arabic kahwa
conga - feminized form of Congo through Spanish
dengue - possibly from Swahili dinga
djembe from West African languages [2]
fandango- possibly from the kikongo empire[3]
Geranuk - Somali: Gerenuk means "giraffe-necked" in the Somali language
gnu - from Bushman !nu through Hottentot i-ngu and Dutch gnoe
goober - possibly from Bantu (Kikongo and Kimbundu nguba)
gumbo - from Bantu (Kimbundu ngombo meaning "okra")
indaba - from Xhosa or Zulu languages - 'meeting' (often used in South African English)
jambalaya possibly from tshiluba
jamboree possibly from swahili "jambo".
jazz - from West African languages (Mandinka jasi, Temne yas)
jive - possibly from Wolof jev
jumbo - from Swahili (jambo or jumbe or from Kongo nzamba "elephant")
juju - Yoruba
juke, jukebox - possibly from Wolof and Bambara dzug through Gullah
kalimba
Kwanzaa - from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "first fruits".
kwashiorkor - from Ga language, Coastal Ghana meaning "swollen stomach"
impala - from Zulu im-pala
lapa - from Sotho languages - enclosure or barbecue area (often used in South African English)
macaque - from Bantu makaku through Portuguese and French
mamba - from Zulu or Swahili mamba
mambo - possibly West African through Haitian Creole
marimba - from Bantu (Kimbundu and Swahili marimba, malimba)
marimbula
merengue (dance) possibly from Fulani mererek i meaning to shake or quiver
mumbo jumbo - uncertain West African etymology
mojo - from Fula moco'o "medicine man" through Louisiana Creole French or Gullah
obeah - from West African (Efik ubio, Twi ebayifo)
okra - from Igbo ókùrù
okapi - from a language in the Congo
safari - from Swahili travel, ultimately from Arabic
samba from an African language through Brazilian Portuguese [4][5], carnaval website
sambo - Fula sambo meaning "uncle"
sangoma - from Zulu - traditional healer (often used in South African English)
tango - probably from Ibibio tamgu
tsetse - from a Bantu language (Tswana tsetse, Luhya tsiisi)
trek - from Afrikaans - move (often used in South African English)
ubuntu - Bantu languages
voodoo - from West African languages (Ewe and Fon vodu "spirit")
yam - West African (Fula nyami, Twi anyinam)
zebra - possibly from a language in the Congo
zombie - Central African (Kikongo zumbi, Kimbundu nzambi)