kikwembe

English

Noun

kikwembe (plural kikwembe)

1. A type of wraparound cloth worn by women in the Congo.
   • 1999, Nancy Rose Hunt, A Colonial Lexicon, page 292:

     Another younger woman, well-dressed in a full Zairian woman's kikwembe suit, came in with a smiling face, eager to see the child.

   • 2011, Jason K Stearns, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters, Public Affairs, published 2012, page 37:

     Beatrice had only one light blanket and a few kikwembe that she used for clothes, swaddling children, and lying on.

   • 2013 July 15, David Smith, The Guardian:

     "They were wearing kikwembe (a shawl worn by Congolese women) over their uniforms, and women's headscarves."