indaba

American  

[in-dah-bah] / ɪnˈdɑ bɑ /

noun

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

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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

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Etymology

Origin of indaba

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

Example Sentences

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

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

It was the worst possible sort of day for the transaction of a difficult and delicate indaba, when both parties to the same were in a state of mutual friction.

From Forging the Blades A Tale of the Zulu Rebellion by Mitford, Bertram

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