assegai
Americannoun
plural
assegais-
the slender javelin or spear of the Bantu-speaking people of southern Africa.
-
a southern African tree, Curtisia dentata, of the dogwood family, from whose wood such spears are made.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
a southern African cornaceous tree, Curtisia faginea, the wood of which is used for making spears
-
a sharp light spear, esp one made of this wood
Etymology
Origin of assegai
First recorded in 1615–25; earlier azagaia, from Portuguese, from Arabic az zaghāyah, equivalent to al “the” + Berber zaghāyah “assegai”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They have brought with them a traditional Zulu assegai spear and a British boot plate, which was found on the battlefield, for the museum.
From BBC • Nov. 21, 2015
The 19th century Zulu King Shaka adapted this long spear into a broad sword, the stabbing assegai.
From Time Magazine Archive
At one point, he raised his assegai into the air for emphasis and accidentally hit the curtain wire above him, which made a sharp noise and caused the curtain to sway.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
The old man was a famous ingcibi, a circumcision expert, from Gcalekaland, who would use his assegai to change us from boys to men with a single blow.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
After a minute, he stopped walking, faced us, and, newly energized, exclaimed that this incident — the assegai striking the wire — symbolized the clash between the culture of Africa and that of Europe.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
