Transvaal

American  

[trans-vahl, tranz-] / trænsˈvɑl, trænz- /

noun

1. a province in the northeastern part of the Republic of South Africa. 110,450 sq. mi. (286,066 sq. km). Pretoria.

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Transvaal British  

/ trænzˈvɑːl /

noun

1. former province of NE South Africa: colonized by the Boers after the Great Trek (1836); became a British colony in 1902; joined South Africa in 1910; replaced in 1994 for administrative purposes by a new system of provinces (Eastern Transvaal (later Mpumalanga), Northern Transvaal (later Limpopo), Gauteng, and North West province). Capital: Pretoria

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Other Word Forms

• Transvaaler
  noun
• Transvaalian
  adjective

Example Sentences

In 1877, following Britain’s announcement that it was annexing the Transvaal Republic, fighting broke out between British and Boer forces in the First Boer War.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born in 1931 in a small gold-mining town in what was then the Transvaal.

From BBC • Dec. 26, 2021

When huge deposits of gold and diamonds were discovered in the Boer republic of the Transvaal, armed conflict became inevitable.

From Washington Post • Sep. 16, 2016

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nelson Mandela campaigning in northern Transvaal during the 1994 presidential election campaign.

From The Guardian • Nov. 18, 2015

Our judge in the Rivonia Trial was Mr. Quartus de Wet, judge- president of the Transvaal, who sat in his flowing red robes beneath a wooden canopy.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela