Matabele

[mat-uh-bee-lee]

noun

plural

Matabeles ,

plural

Matabele .

1. Ndebele.

Matabele

/ ˌmætəˈbiːlɪ, -ˈbɛlɪ /

noun

1. Now known as: Ndebele. a member of a formerly warlike people of southern Africa, now living in Zimbabwe: driven out of the Transvaal by the Boers in 1837

2. the language of this people, belonging to the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family

Word History and Origins

Origin of Matabele¹

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

Are Matabele ants really unique in this respect?

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It learned how the Matabele ants carried their young at the center of a line while the soldiers ran along the outside.

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In Mozambique, Wilson studied the Matabele ant, a species that favors termites as food.

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In Zimbabwe, the military campaign against the Matabele was known as “Gukurahundi” — a rain that washes away husks after the corn has been reaped.

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This category was expanded beyond the dissidents to include thousands of members of the Matabele people from the same ethnic group as Mr Mugabe's opponent at the time, Joshua Nkomo.

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