kraal
or craal
[krahl]
- an enclosure for cattle and other domestic animals in southern Africa.
- a village of the native peoples of South Africa, usually surrounded by a stockade or the like and often having a central space for livestock.
- such a village as a social unit.
- an enclosure where wild animals are exhibited, as in a zoo.
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- to shut up in a krall, as cattle.
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Origin of kraal
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for kraal
Historical Examples of kraal
He lost it, as the brigadier had foreseen, in the vicinity of Abraham's Kraal.
On the Heels of De WetThe Intelligence Officer
We saw a Kaffir kraal on a hill, and to us "it was nothing more."
The Defence of Duffer's DriftErnest Dunlop Swinton
The Kaffirs of the kraal we had impressed to assist at once.
The Defence of Duffer's DriftErnest Dunlop Swinton
We must take the child to the kraal, and give it up to them.
The Giraffe HuntersMayne Reid
The lion was traced to a grove of trees, about a mile and a half from the kraal.
The Giraffe HuntersMayne Reid
kraal
- a hut village in southern Africa, esp one surrounded by a stockade
- an enclosure for livestock
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- denoting or relating to the tribal aspects of the Black African way of life
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- (tr) to enclose (livestock) in a kraal
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Word Origin for kraal
C18: from Afrikaans, from Portuguese curral pen; see corral
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
Word Origin and History for kraal
"village, pen, enclosure," 1731, South African, from colonial Dutch kraal, from Portuguese curral (see corral).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper