shenzi

See also: shēnzi and shěnzi

English

Etymology

From Swahili -shenzi. loan word from Arabic 'Zanj' which means both black African and monkey.

Noun

shenzi (plural shenzis)

1. (dated, Africa) A barbarian (variously used to refer to foreigners, Europeans, or pagans)
   • 1919, Stewart Edward White, The Land of Footprints, page 263:

     We instructed our men to shoot first and inquire afterward, if a shenzi so much as showed himself in the clearing.

Anagrams

• Hinzes

Swahili

Etymology

Uncertain, perhaps from the same source as Arabic زَنْج (zanj, “Zanj”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Adjective

-shenzi (declinable)

1. uncivilized, barbarian

Declension

Inflected forms of -shenzi

Noun class	singular	plural
m-wa class(I/II)	mshenzi	washenzi
m-mi class(III/IV)	mshenzi	mishenzi
ji-ma class(V/VI)	shenzi	mashenzi
ki-vi class(VII/VIII)	kishenzi	vishenzi
n class(IX/X)	shenzi	shenzi
u class(XI)	mshenzi	see n(X) or ma(VI) class
pa class(XVI)	pashenzi
ku class(XVII)	kushenzi
mu class(XVIII)	mushenzi

Derived terms

• mshenzi (“barbarian”)
• ushenzi (“savagery, barbarity”)