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baas

British  
/ bɑːs /

noun

  1. a South African word for a boss: often used by Black or Coloured people addressing a White manager or overseer

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of baas

C17: from Afrikaans, from Middle Dutch baes master; see boss 1

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.

In Chicago this week, amid bellows, oinks, neighs and baas, with the skirl of a bagpipe band, exuberant farmers gathered for the 42nd International Livestock Exposition.

From Time Magazine Archive

In their tongue B.A.A.S. would spell revolting baas, "master," "boss."

From Time Magazine Archive

Said a rival: "Lady Caroline baas like a little sheep."

From Time Magazine Archive

He added, “Ask the baas if he’s got any old clothes he wants to get rid of. I badly need underwear and socks.”

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

Many whites at the ranch had accepted me as an individual, an equal, that I called them by their first names, instead of baas, and could joke with them.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

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.