shamba

English

Etymology

From Swahili.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈʃambə/

Noun

shamba ‎(plural shambas)

1. (East Africa) An area of cultivated ground; a plot of land, a small subsistence farm for growing crops and fruit-bearing trees, often including the dwelling of the farmer.
   • 1967, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, A Grain of Wheat, EAEP 2008, p. 4:

     To reach his new strip of shamba which lay the other side of Thabai, Mugo had to walk through the dusty village streets.

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Swahili

Noun

shamba (ma class, plural mashamba)

1. garden, farm (any land that is cultivated), field
2. (in plural) the countryside