English
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe comes from Shona dzimba-dze-mabwe ‘houses of stones’, and goes back to Proto-Bantu *ìbʊ̀è.
- Proto-Bantuprehistoric (reconstructed)*ìbʊ̀èreconstructed
- Shonamodernibwe
- Shona, derivedmoderndzimba-dze-mabwe‘houses of stones’
- Englishearliest quotation 2009Zimbabwe
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Bantuprehistoric (reconstructed)*ìbʊ̀èreconstructed
- Shonamodernibwe
- Shona, derivedmoderndzimba-dze-mabwe‘houses of stones’
- Englishearliest quotation 2009Zimbabwe
Earliest quotation: 2009, Blessing-Miles Tendi, Tsvangirai's dicey strategy: “According to Ncube, the MDC believed, from 2000, that…”
The story
From Shona dzimba-dze-mabwe (‘houses of stones’) (see imba (‘house’), ibwe (‘stone’)), in reference to Great Zimbabwe.
Every English word from Proto-Bantu *ìbʊ̀è
Today it means
name A country in Southern Africa. Official name: Republic of Zimbabwe. Formerly called Southern Rhodesia or Rhodesia.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Bantu *ìbʊ̀è / Zimbabwe