English Explanatory Dictionary

Kwanzaa

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. A week-long African-American cultural holiday held between December 26 and January 1.

Pronunciation

/ˈkwɑnzə/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Kwanzaa.wav

Word forms

Kwanzaa Kwanzaas

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Bantu *kʊ̀- Proto-Sabaki *kw- Common Bantu *-jànda Proto-Sabaki *-anzya Proto-Sabaki *-a kwanzya Swahili -a kwanzabor. English Kwanzaa Coined by Maulana Karenga from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza (“first fruits”). The additional “a” was added to “Kwanza” so that the word would have seven letters, one for each of the Seven Principles of Blackness.

Derived words

happy Kwanzaa
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on K Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary