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  • indaba
    indaba
    noun
    a conference or consultation between or with native peoples of South Africa.
  • Indaba
    Indaba
    noun
    anthropol history (among Bantu peoples of southern Africa) a meeting to discuss a serious topic

indaba

American  
[in-dah-bah] / ɪnˈdɑ bɑ /

noun

  1. a conference or consultation between or with native peoples of South Africa.


Indaba British  
/ ɪnˈdɑːbə /

noun

  1. anthropol history (among Bantu peoples of southern Africa) a meeting to discuss a serious topic

  2. informal a matter of concern or for discussion

"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 indaba

1890–95; < Zulu indaba, izindaba (with implosive b ) matter for discussion, affair, account

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.

If the great indaba finally does begin, it could founder all too quickly because the fundamental aims of the two main parties are so far apart.

From Time Magazine Archive

For now, the first one is to convene the indaba.

From Time Magazine Archive

Last month Buthelezi opened a historic indaba, or meeting, between whites and blacks to discuss guidelines for creating in his home state of Natal the country's first completely multiracial government.

From Time Magazine Archive

Well, the indaba, the council, you know was in full swing when up comes this white man, running as if for his life, and wailing, wailing!

From Those Who Smiled And Eleven Other Stories by Gibbon, Perceval

Cronje stopped and cantered back again, seeming to hold an indaba with his petty officers.

From The Siege of Mafeking (1900) by Hamilton, J. Angus