Xhosa

Or Xo·sa

[koh-suh, -zuh, kaw-]

noun

plural

Xhosas ,

plural

Xhosa .

1. a member of a Nguni people of eastern Cape Province, Republic of South Africa.

2. the Bantu language of the Xhosa.

Xhosa

/ ˈkɔːsə /

noun

1. a member of a cattle-rearing Negroid people of southern Africa, living chiefly in South Africa

2. the language of this people, belonging to the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family: one of the Nguni languages, closely related to Swazi and Zulu and characterized by several clicks in its sound system

Other Word Forms

• Xhosan adjective

Example Sentences

Named after the wife of a 19th Century British official, it is now called Gqeberha, the Xhosa word for the river that runs through it.

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Kendi — the “X” stands for his middle name, Xolani, a Xhosa and Zulu word for peace — pulls no punches in making such connections.

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Ms Nayimuli said that while growing up she would constantly speak Xhosa, her mother tongue and one of South Africa’s official languages, to “prove her South African-ness”.

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Stories spread through the city of a bearded man - nicknamed “whiskers” in the Xhosa language - who made people disappear at night.

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In Johannesburg and the Eastern Cape, the vocal tradition of isicathamiya and the steady, Zulu and Xhosa dance rhythms of the regions exerted strong influence.

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