Africann.adj.
/ˈafrᵻk(ə)n/, U.S. /ˈæfrəkən/ A. n.
1.
a. A native or inhabitant of Africa; a person of African origin (contextually = black African n. and adj. (a) at black adj. and n. Compounds 1e(a)); spec. (in local usage) such a person as distinguished from a person of European origin, as (South African) a member of any of the Bantu-speaking peoples of South Africa.In early use chiefly with reference to the Roman province of Africa and the adjoining North African region.
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the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Africa > [noun]
AfricaneOE
Afera1398
Kaffir1588
Guinea bird1637
Afrocentrist1961
Afrikan1972
eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) (2009) I. viii. 417 Regulu[s se] foremæra [heret]og[a]..[feaht] wið Affricanus [read Affricanas; lOE Bodl. Affricanas].
OE St. Mary of Egypt (Julius) (2002) 84 þa geseah ic on sumere tide miccle meniu Affricana and Egypta togædere yrnende swa swa to sæ.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 12666 Mid him com moni Aufrican [c1300 Otho Affrican]; of Ethiope he brohte þa bleomen.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 13726 Þa comen þer kinges þreo;..of Ethi[o]pe wes þe an, þe oðer wes an Aufrican [c1300 Otho of Affrican], þe þridde wes of Libie.
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) l. 2021 (MED) Lete armen þine Affricanes [a1425 Linc. Inn Affrigauns], þe Turkeyns and þe Arabians.
a1500 (?a1325) Otuel & Roland (1935) l. 2602 (MED) Too thowsand of Percyans, And also fele affricans thay browten to the feld.
1565 T. Harding Answere to Iuelles Chalenge 61v He being an Aphricane borne, and writing to Aphricanes.
1567 T. Stapleton Counterblast To Rdr. sig.****iiijv I reporte me to the Africans, who falling from the vnitie of the Romaine See..became in time Infidelles.
1614 J. Selden Titles of Honor 105 An African expressly affirms that in Mahumedisme were anciently lxxii. Sects, and now but two.
1671 A. Woodhead Considerations Council of Trent ii. 20 Which was the chief matter stood upon by the Affricans against Pope Bonifacius.
1687 W. D. tr. B. Le Bovier de Fontenelle Disc. Plurality of Worlds iii. 50 All Faces in general are wrought according to one and the same model, but those of two great Nations, of the Europeans, for example, and Africans seem to be fram'd to two particular models.
1728 J. Morgan Compl. Hist. Algiers I. iii. 49 A People so prone to Unpoliteness as were the natural Africans.
1757 A. Butler Lives Saints III. 929 The concurring suffrages of sixteen ancient and worthy bishops (two of whom were Africans).
1806 Gleanings in Afr. xvi. 121 The case of the unhappy African is..entirely different. The unoffending negro, in the forests and morasses of Africa, never so much as meditated hostility against Europe.
1849 T. Carlyle in Fraser's Mag. 40 672/2 Our West-Indian policy..of keeping down the labour-market in those islands by importing new Africans.
1857 Monroe (Wisconsin) Sentinel 11 Feb. 1/6 The rain making seems very stupid to an European, but it is not so to an African sitting beneath a burning sky.
1876 G. Bancroft Hist. U.S. (rev. ed.) II. xxvii. 186 That America should benefit the African, was always the excuse for the slave-trade.
1902 G. M. Theal Beginning of S. Afr. Hist. 256 It was impossible for the European without losing self respect to labour side by side with the African.
1908 M. K. Waddington Chateau & Country Life in France xi. 311 Then there were the inevitable Africans with fezes on their heads and bundles of silks.
1925 Times 18 June 14/4 They forgot that the land was the African's and attempted to convert it into freehold for the European.
1952 L. Marquard Peoples & Policies S. Afr. i. 1 Today..8,500,000 Africans form part of the population of South Africa.
2005 Financial Times (Nexis) 24 Aug. 12 Eurofarmers get $2 daily subsidy per cow. Many Africans earn $1 a day.
b. spec. A white inhabitant of Africa.Now rare except denoting a white person as included in sense A. 1a.
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the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Africa > [noun] > white
African1785
white Africa1899
1785 Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 901/2 Mr. Immelman, a young African.
1815 A. Plumptre tr. H. Lichtenstein Trav. S. Afr. II. iv. xxxv. 96 Like all other settlers here, they [sc. the French settlers] are become entirely Africans.
1881 Banner of Israel 2 Mar. 85/2 Our readers may be able to judge therefrom..how impossible it is that the foolish dream of the Dutch Africans can be realised.
1923 O. Schreiner Thoughts on S. Afr. ii. 77 The young English African who has never been in Europe may boast that South Africa is the finest country on earth.
1934 ‘N. Giles’ Ridge of White Waters i. xiii. 150 As an African, with Dutch blood in me, I am suspected of Republican sympathies.
1953 P. H. Abrahams Return to Goli v. 179 Of all the whites in the plural societies of Africa only the descendants of the Trekkers have made that deeply subjective..transition in their relations with the African earth that has made pure Africans of them.
2. A black inhabitant of a territory other than Africa who is of African origin or descent; spec. = African American n.
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the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of America > native or inhabitant of North America > native or inhabitant of U.S.A. > [noun] > by country of origin
American1648
African1700
High Dutch1773
Low Dutch1773
German-American1775
African American1782
Anglo-American1785
Irish-American1786
Africo-American1788
American African1826
Pennsylvania German1827
Pennsylvania Dutch1831
Afro-American1833
far-downer1834
Mexicano1847
knickerbocker1848
Chinese-American1854
Italian–American1873
Polish-American1876
Polacker1883
roundhead1895
hunk1896
Polack1898
Senegambian1900
bohunk1903
honky1904
hunyak1911
Turk1914
boho1920
Anglo1923
Euro-American1925
turkey1932
narrowback1933
nisei1934
roundheader1934
pachuco1943
pocho1944
Latino1946
Chicano1947
Mexican-American1948
Asian American1952
Amerasian1957
Chicana1966
Afrikan1972
Hispanic1972
1700 S. Sewall Selling of Joseph in Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1863) 7 163 It might not be unreasonable to enquire whether we are not culpable in forcing the Africans to become Slaves amongst our selves.
1721 New-England Courant 18–25 Dec. 1/1 On Thursday last was solemnized here the Wedding of two Africans.
1800 Boston Selectmen 3 Sept. All Africans and Negroes resident in this town.
1855 Southern Literary Messenger Nov. 656/2 The African was not without his redeeming traits... He was not a bad specimen of the physical man.
1902 W. G. Brown Lower South in Amer. Hist. (1903) i. 94 Lincoln seems to have understood, that the real cause of all the trouble was not slavery, but the presence of Africans in the South in large numbers.
1970 R. D. Abrahams Positively Black vi. 149 This was the very place in which culture was stripped from the Africans.
1979 D. F. Littlefield Africans & Creeks i. 22 There is at present no evidence that Indians..held Africans as slaves.
3. Any of the languages spoken in Africa; these languages collectively.
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the mind > language > languages of the world > African languages > [noun]
African1872
Pedi1890
1872 Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 1871 60 Our author's imagined..German, or any other German, would only need to be brought up from infancy in an African kraal, in order to speak African.
1947 Universe 18 July 12/3 Delegate preaches in African.
1962 Catholic Times 19 Apr. 9/1 Translating the Bible into African.
1999 K. Park in K. C. Kim Koreans in Hood iv. 69 Koreans have a culture. We [sc. African Americans] do not. I cannot speak African or Jamaican.
B. adj.
1. Of or relating to Africa (originally with reference to the ancient Roman province of Africa; subsequently to the continent as a whole); belonging to or characteristic of the inhabitants of Africa, esp. as distinguished from those of European origin; (South African) of or relating to any of the Bantu-speaking peoples of South Africa.
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the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Africa > [adjective]
Afric?a1425
African1548
Massylian1607
Africanistic1904
the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [adjective]
blackOE
Morian1504
African1548
Negro1593
black Morian1631
neger1657
Ethiopian1684
nigger1689
Hubshee1698
Kaffir1731
Nigritian1757
Ethiopic1778
dingy1785
blackamoor1813
nigger-looking1837
darkie1840
Negroid1844
Negroloid1844
dinge1848
Melanian1861
negroish1861
Negroidal1878
Africanoid1885
chocolate?1886
melanodermic1924
nigra1938
tan1950
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Africa > [adjective]
African1703
pan-African1899
Africanistic1904
Afrikan1929
Afrocentric1992
the world > people > ethnicities > peoples of Africa > peoples of Southern Africa > [adjective] > Bantu peoples
Xhosa1812
Morolong1822
amaXhosa1824
Zulu1824
Sotho1827
amaZulu1828
Amapondo1830
African1832
Matabele1835
knob-nosed1838
Manganja1859
Pondo1872
Bapedi1878
Ovambo1897
Tsonga1907
Venda1913
Pedi1922
Nguni1929
Lobedu1937
Mosotho1955
1548 G. Joye tr. A. Osiander Coniectures Ende of Worlde iv. sig. Fiv The Africane counsell decreed..that no Byshop..ought to be called the Prince of priestes.
1565 T. Harding Answere to Iuelles Chalenge f. 89v This reconciliation..of the Affricane churches to the catholike church.
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie iii. i. 128 The Africane bishopes in the Councell of Carthage.
1624 T. Scott 2nd Pt. Vox Populi 23 That (insolent and african pride) of restrayning him from that liberall..conuerse..with the Lady Maria Infanta.
1646 M. Pinkney Occas. Disc. 147 The Epist. of the Africane Bishops to Pope Celestine.
1703 W. Dampier Voy. New Holland i. 27 The Inhabitants of this Island..are all Negro's, Wool-pated like their African Neighbours.
1797 J. Walker Elements Geogr., Nat. & Civil Hist. (ed. 3) iii. xvi. 264 Thus dreadfully hostile are the beasts, and thus savage the scenes that give animation to, and diversify, the African landscape.
1801 M. Edgeworth Belinda II. xviii. 185 It is an African instrument, of which the negroes are particularly fond.
1832 Graham's Town Jrnl. (S. Afr.) 10 Aug. 127 To hire, an African Slave Girl who understands all descriptions of House work.
1869 T. W. Allies Formation Christendom ii. 277 Tertullian adds the witness of the African church to that of the Asiatic and Gallic churches in Irenæus.
1886 Cent. Mag. Feb. 523/1 That is an African amulet that hangs about his neck.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XX. 624/1 Sierra Leone is inhabited by about a dozen distinct African peoples, the most important being the Mende, Temne, Limba [etc.].
1922 J. C. B. Statham Through Angola p. v It was at an Angolan port that Livingstone..ended his first great African journey in 1853.
1927 A. Conan Doyle Case-bk. Sherlock Holmes 67 A handsome man with clear-cut features sunburned by an African sun.
1959 Listener 6 Aug. 199/1 He was..strongly criticized for reportedly kissing an African woman in public.
1995 P. Manuel in P. Manuel et al. Caribbean Currents i. 9 Another widespread feature of African music is call and response, which is well suited to communal performance in general.
2004 J. Boëttger Breakfast with Leonard 13 I am proud to be African but frustrated by our seeming inability to make Africa work.
2.
a. Designating animals and plants native to or (supposedly) originating in Africa. See also Compounds 2.African mole-rat, rice, pompano, etc.: see the second element.
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the world > plants > by habitat or distribution > [adjective] > characteristic of particular region or period
southerneOE
African1578
Asiatic1670
American1678
Creole1758
Californian1785
subalpine1808
Antarctic1835
Adelaidean1847
Arctic1876
Atlantic1876
gerontogeous1880
Cenomanian1902
Lusitanian1907
pantropic1911
pantropical1913
native1920
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. xxv. 176 We do call this floure Turkie Gillofers, and French Marygoldes..or Aphrican Gillofers.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 609 There be extant at this day fiue sorts of Turkie Gilloflowers or African Marigolds.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 99 The Affrican Camels, are much more woorth then the Asian.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Oeillet d'Inde, the Turkie, or Affrican Marigold, or Gilliflower; also, the French Marigold, or Gingioline flower (which is the single kind of the Affrican).
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Ulpicum, great or wild Garlick; African Garlick.
1782 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. ii. 532 African C[uckow].
1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 170 The African Marabou is less in size than the Indian Argala.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 847/2 The African Locust tree (Nitta or Nutta of the negroes), is a tree attaining thirty or forty feet in height.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 24 African walnut (Schotia brachypetala, Sond). A tree bearing handsome, bright scarlet flowers.
1979 P. O'Brian Fortune of War i. 21 One whose name was familiar to all those who cared deeply about..the habits of the African aardvark.
2010 Observer 21 Mar. (Guide to Pets) 61/2 The giant african land snail requires a humid environment with a damp substrate.
b. Designating or relating to an American of African origin; = African American adj.
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the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of America > native or inhabitant of North America > native or inhabitant of U.S.A. > [adjective] > by country of origin
African1722
American1761
Low Dutch1774
Pennsylvania Dutch1792
Anglo-American1797
Irish-American1820
Africo-American1825
American African1826
Afro-American1831
Polish-American1850
Chinese-American1854
Italian–American1854
Russo-American1878
African American1885
Senegambian1911
Afrikan1929
Mexican-American1948
Asian American1950
Amerasian1965
Chicano1966
Anglo1968
Tejano1978
1722 C. Mather Diary 16 Jan. (1912) II. 672 My African Servant must be præpared for the Baptism, which he has been long seeking for.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (ed. 3) i. 554 The African schools, into which slaves as well as free persons, of whatever age, of both sexes, are admitted gratis, and taught reading, writing, arithmetic &c.
1837 Colored Amer. 28 Oct. 3/1 Nor will they permit the admission of a student into their Theological Seminaries, who, knowingly, has one drop of African blood in his veins.
1845 Knickerbocker 26 334 Concert this evening, by the African Melodists.
1889 Harper's Mag. July 230/2 The African churches in the South are fired with commendable zeal to do what they can in the education of their people.
1901 J. B. Avirett Old Plantation xvi. 125 The daughter of Jay Gould could not have borne herself with more becoming grace or modesty than did our African bride.
1971 Black World Apr. 32 Black Theater..should..be utilizing..the life-style of African peoples in America.
2009 Hoosier Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 15 Nov. (Herald-Times ed.) e5/5 Local newspapers have been filled in recent months with stories detailing discrimination..against the African community.
Compounds
C1. With participles.
African-born adj.
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1788 J. Matthews Voy. River Sierra-Leone 170 The African born children speak no other language than their mothers.
1860 R. F. Burton Lake Regions Central Afr. I. 137 The length of his mustachios..distinguishes him from his African-born brethren.
1900 A. H. Keane Boer States viii. 161 Any African-born white person..is an Afrikander in the social, if not in the political, sense of the term.
2008 Caribbean Rev. Bks. Aug. 22/2 Nancy Daniels, African-born domestic.
African-derived adj.
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1904 F. A. Ober Our W. Indian Neighbors xxiii. 358 The greater portion of Martinique's inhabitants are black or colored, the African-derived element being vastly in preponderance.
2009 J. A. Coyne Why Evol. is True viii. 234 It's likely that the high frequency of this mutation in African and African-derived populations resulted from natural selection in response to malaria.
African-looking adj.
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1833 Caledonian Mercury 7 Mar. The great African-looking masses of bronze.
1864 J. A. Grant Walk across Afr. 29 The Kingani—a true African-looking river, with its tall reed edges.
2003 W. Gibson Pattern Recognition xxviii. 228 Carrying a sort of carpetbag in some African-looking hand-weave.
C2.
a.
African Eve n. [ < African adj. + Eve, the name of the first woman in the Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures (see Eve n.1)] a female of an extinct African hominid; esp. a hypothetical single female human regarded as the ancestor of all modern humans in the maternal line, postulated to have lived in Africa 150,000–200,000 years ago; cf. mitochondrial Eve n. at mitochondrial adj. Compounds.In quot. 1984: the fossil hominid ‘Lucy’.
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1984 Jrnl. Afr. Civilizations 6 5 The drama surrounding the find of the African Eve is intriguing, especially in the way it is handled by Donald Johannson and Maitland Eddy.
1986 San Francisco Chron. 24 Mar. 1/5 The dramatic, controversial claim of a fairly recent African Eve as the very very great-grandmother of all humans is sure to stir up an old debate in anthropology.
1992 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 11 June 26/1 The so-called ‘African Eve’ hypothesis indicates a single common female ancestor, located in Africa at that place where the countless ramifications of the gene tree run together.
2007 N.Y. Times 26 June (Washington Final ed.) d3/1 DNA studies pointed to a common maternal ancestor of all anatomically modern humans in Africa by at least 130,000 years. She inevitably became known as the African Eve.
African horse disease n. = African horse sickness n.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [noun] > other disorders of horses
trench?a1450
colt-evilc1460
affreyd?1523
cholera1566
crick1566
incording1566
leprosy1566
taint1566
eyesore1576
fistula1576
wrench1578
birth1600
garrot1600
stithy1600
stifling1601
stranglings1601
hungry evil1607
pose1607
crest-fall1609
pompardy1627
felteric1639
quick-scab1639
shingles1639
clap1684
sudden taking1688
bunches1706
flanks1706
strangles1706
chest-founderingc1720
body-founder1737
influenza1792
foundering1802
horse-sickness1822
stag-evil1823
strangullion1830
shivering1847
dourine1864
swamp fever1870
African horse sickness1874
horse-pox1884
African horse disease1888
wind-stroke1890
thump1891
leucoencephalitis1909
western equine encephalitis1933
stachybotryotoxicosis1945
rhinopneumonitis1957
1888 A. B. Wylde '83 to '87 Soudan I. xii. 240 I found a decided case of African horse disease among the mules that day.
1961 Spectator 3 Feb. 135 The Ministry of Agriculture..advised on the matter of African horse disease..was able to tell Moscow that the Russian horses will be allowed to compete in the Grand National.
2007 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 30 Oct. 7 With the soaring popularity of pony pastures may we expect horse owners to jump on the bandwagon when African horse disease reaches our shores?
African horse sickness n. a serious, often fatal, infectious disease of horses, mules, and donkeys caused by an orbivirus, which is transmitted by midges of the genus Culicoides and certain other biting arthropods, and affects mainly the lungs and heart, with fever and often extensive oedema and effusions; = horse-sickness n. at horse n. Compounds 2a.African horse sickness is endemic in central and southern Africa, but has occurred also in northern Africa, the Middle East, and southern Europe.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [noun] > other disorders of horses
trench?a1450
colt-evilc1460
affreyd?1523
cholera1566
crick1566
incording1566
leprosy1566
taint1566
eyesore1576
fistula1576
wrench1578
birth1600
garrot1600
stithy1600
stifling1601
stranglings1601
hungry evil1607
pose1607
crest-fall1609
pompardy1627
felteric1639
quick-scab1639
shingles1639
clap1684
sudden taking1688
bunches1706
flanks1706
strangles1706
chest-founderingc1720
body-founder1737
influenza1792
foundering1802
horse-sickness1822
stag-evil1823
strangullion1830
shivering1847
dourine1864
swamp fever1870
African horse sickness1874
horse-pox1884
African horse disease1888
wind-stroke1890
thump1891
leucoencephalitis1909
western equine encephalitis1933
stachybotryotoxicosis1945
rhinopneumonitis1957
1819 Asiatic Jrnl. & Monthly Reg. Oct. 395/2 The horse sickness has disappeared, and the horses for the remount of the Zwellendam Command..have proceeded towards Graham's Town.]
1874 S. W. Baker Ismailïa I. xi. 362 The well-known African horse-sickness broke out. In spite of every precaution, my horses died.
1924 Times 7 Aug. 17/3 Many of these undetermined diseases are very common and familiar..; among animals, rabies, rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease, and African horse-sickness.
1986 J. F. Gracey Meat Hygiene (ed. 8) xix. 437/2 Pulmonary oedema occurs in African horse sickness.
2007 Daily Tel. 27 Mar. 5/8 African horse sickness, which is spread by the Culicoides midge, kills 90 per cent of horses that catch it.
African National Congress n. (the name of) a South African political movement (subsequently a political party) founded in 1912 with the aim of establishing a racially integrated, democratic society, and later banned by the South African government (1960–90), before becoming part of a ruling coalition after the country's first democratic elections in 1994; abbreviated ANC n. at A n. Initialisms.Until 1923, called the South African Native National Congress.
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society > authority > rule or government > politics > African politics > [noun] > South African politics > specific parties
remskoen party1898
S.A.P.1920
African National Congress1923
OB1940
Ossewa Brandwag1940
U.P.1943
ANC1952
1912 Afr. World 10 Feb. 59/1 January 8... To-day may be proved in the future to have occupied an important place in the history of South Africa... I refer to the South African Native National Congress, the first session of which is being held in Bloemfontein.]
1923 Resol. Ann. Conf. in T. Karis & G. M. Carter From Protest to Challenge (1972) I. 298 It is resolved that the South African Native National Congress shall henceforth be known and described for all intents and purposes as ‘The African National Congress’.
1938 H. R. Abercrombie Afr. Peril 230 The African National Congress opened the eyes of the people and set aflame the force of race consciousness and race pride.
1966 A. Sachs Jail Diary ii. 19 For years he was a leading African National Congress man; I have defended him on a number of occasions.
1992 Independent 22 Apr. 1/2 Nelson Mandela's African National Congress, after 80 years doing battle against racial exclusivity, yesterday suddenly found itself represented in South Africa's all-white parliament.
2003 New Internationalist Apr. 24/1 There has always been a rift between the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on privatization.
African socialism n. a form of socialism specific to or adapted for Africa and its culture; spec. (sometimes with capital initials) the name of a kind of socialism developed in the 1960s by President Nyerere of Tanzania; see ujamaa n.
ΚΠ
1959 Life 2 Feb. 96/2 The best way to prevent African socialism from developing into Communism is to season it with enlightened capitalism.
1962 Times 16 July 9/1 Mr. Nyerere, president of the Tanganyika African National Union, issued his African Socialism treatise.
1962 Economist 8 Sept. 892/2 An illustration of Mr Nyerere's thesis that Ujamaa (familyhood) is the basis of African socialism; the family is one in which everyone takes a hand with the hoeing.
1977 Time Out 17 June 27/5 The shortcomings of ‘African Socialism’, the euphemism devised by black leaders for collaboration with international capital are rigorously bared.
2006 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 27 Apr. 38/3 The new country, Tanzania, lived through decades of economic decay brought on by Julius Nyerere's generally benign but ineffective ‘African socialism’.
African swine fever n. a viral disease of pigs occurring in acute and chronic forms that has symptoms similar to those of hog cholera and is transmitted by ticks and by contact with infected animals and secretions.African swine fever often has a very high mortality rate. It was first reported in Kenya and is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, but outbreaks have occurred elsewhere in Africa, in Europe, and in Central and South America.The virus causing it is a double-stranded DNA virus which is the type member of the family Asfarviridae.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of pigs > [noun]
swine-sought?c1475
water-gall1582
measles1587
swinepox1587
gargarism1607
measlesa1637
rangen1688
milt-pain1704
choler1729
hog pox1730
gall1736
thirst1736
cholera1837
black tooth1851
hog plague1858
swine plague1863
purple1867
swine fever1877
soldier disease1878
soldier1882
swine erysipelas1887
Aujeszky's disease1906
swine flu1919
swine influenza1920
African swine fever1935
baby pig disease1941
swine vesicular disease1972
SVD1973
1919 Trop. Vet. Bull. 7 45 An outbreak of suspected East African swine fever was reported near Nairobi.]
1935 G. de Kock & E. M. Robinson in Farming S. Afr. Feb. 53/1 That this disease..is African Swine Fever, as it occurs in East Africa and the northern Transvaal, there seems to be little doubt.
1957 H. A. Smith & T. C. Jones Vet. Pathol. ix. 297 Changes grossly evident in African swine fever are similar in many respects to those of hog cholera, but are generally more severe.
2010 Grocer Feb. 5/5 The industry is facing another threat in the form of African Swine Fever.
b. In the names of animals and plants (see sense B. 2a).
African bee n. any of various bees native to Africa; spec. = African honeybee n.
ΚΠ
1835 W. Swainson Treat. Geogr. & Classif. Animals i. v. 109 Nor must the honey-guides (Indicator) be omitted; those extraordinary guides to man in the discovery of the nests of the African bees.
1874 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 18 Apr. 509/1 Here also the African bee is most common, the wax constituting a chief article of commerce.
1976 Sci. Amer. Jan. 63/1 The African bees are unable to survive the cold season in temperate climates as other honeybees do by forming winter clusters.
1990 Sci. News 26 May 332/3 If African bees start taking over hives in the South..food prices will probably go way up.
2002 High Country News 24 June 10/1 African bees evolved in the superheated tropics, foraging year round, more on the move and facing a much wider array of predators.
African blackwood n. the timber of the East African tree Dalbergia melanoxylon (family Fabaceae ( Leguminosae)), whose dense, purplish-brown, black-streaked wood is used for carving and for making woodwind instruments; the tree itself; also called mpingo.
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1843 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. I. 74 Black Botany-Bay wood, called also African Black-wood, is perhaps the hardest, and also the most wasteful of all the woods.
1908 Bull. Imperial Inst. 6 239 The well known ‘African blackwood’, otherwise called ‘Cape Damson’. It is a valuable substitute for ebony.
1979 Early Music 7 559 (advt.) Instruments are available in a range of exotic woods..boxwood, satinwood,..African Blackwood, sycamore and cherrywood.
2005 Trees (Eyewitness Compan.) 196 Found in deciduous woodlands and dry savannas, the African blackwood usually has many branches, which bear thick spines at the nodes.
African buffalo n. a heavily built buffalo, Syncerus caffer, characteristic of the savannahs of sub-Saharan Africa, the males of which have the horn bases fused into a bony shield; also called Cape buffalo.Several varieties, traditionally treated as subspecies, are now sometimes regarded as full species.
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1784 P. H. Maty in New Rev. 6 371 These [plates] are sixteen in number, and consist of..the antelope sylvatica—bos cafer, or African buffalo—antelope pygargus [etc.].
1843 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1841–3 1 291 The following constitute the donation of Dr. Goheen:..horn of an African Buffalo, tail of an African Elephant, [etc.].
1930 W. M. Mann Wild Animals in & out of Zoo xiii. 170 We have had only two African buffaloes in the collection. One, from East Africa (Synoceros neumanni ),..and the other, from South Africa (Synoceros caffer).
2001 Y. Martel Life of Pi (2002) ix. 39 Fiddler crabs scurry when you're ten yards away..; African buffaloes react at seventy-five.
African civet n. †(a) a musky secretion obtained from a civet of sub-Saharan Africa, Civettictis civetta, used in perfumery (obsolete. rare); (b) (more fully African civet cat) the animal itself, which has a coat boldly marked with black stripes and blotches.
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1712 tr. P. Pomet Compl. Hist. Drugs II. i. 242/2 The West-Indian, Barbadian, and African Civets, are next in Goodness.
1785 tr. A. Sparrman Voy. Cape of Good Hope I. 151 As to the animal to which M. Vosmaer gives the name of the African civet-cat, I much doubt if it be to be [sic] found at the Cape of Good Hope.
1831 List Animals in Gardens of Zool. Soc. July 1st, 1831 (Tenth Publ.) 12 African Civet Cat. (A Female.) Viverra civetta, Linn... It is this animal which is supposed to produce the perfume called Civet.
1917 C. J. Cornish et al. Mammals of Other Lands 75 (caption) African Civet. This is one of the largest of the Civet Tribe.
2003 Ecol. Monogr. 73 627/1 African civets (Civetticus civetta) , palm civets (Nandinia binotata), and genets (Genetta sp.) are all frugivorous.
African elephant n. the elephant native to Africa, Loxodonta africana, distinguished from the Indian elephant by its greater size, larger ears, two-lipped trunk, and fully formed tusks in the female as well as the male.Recent genetic evidence suggests that a smaller forest form should be regarded as a separate species, L. cyclotis.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Proboscidea (elephants) > [noun] > elephant > loxodonta africans (African elephant)
African elephant1602
Loxodon1857
1602 L. Lloyd Stratagems of Ierusalem ii. v. 161 Affrican Elephants were as common at Rome in a maner as horses.
1763 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 578/2 An African elephant of the largest size measures about nine cubits, or thirteen feet and a half in height.
1800 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. I. i. 224 The African Elephant is said to be smaller than the Asiatic: yet..the largest tusks come from Africa.
1965 D. Morris Mammals 337 Other distinguishing characteristics of the African Elephant..are the very large ears..and the concave curve of the back.
2006 Wanderlust Mar. 38/1 I was a little tense about getting up close and personal with an African elephant.
African grey n. (more fully African grey parrot) the parrot Psittacus erithacus, with chiefly grey plumage and a red tail, which is native to the rainforests of West and Central Africa and popular elsewhere as a pet, being noted for its ability to mimic speech.
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1754 M. Catesby & G. Edwards Nat. Hist. Carolina (rev. ed.) I. 10/1 The Parrot of Paradise of Cuba, is somewhat less than the common African Grey Parrot.
1851 ‘Parrot-keeper’ Parrot-keeper's Guide 33 A valuable African grey parrot having taken a severe cold, was attacked with violent diarrhœa.
1930 Public Health Rep. (U.S. Public Health Service) 45 2017 A case [of psittacosis]..followed a bite on the tongue by an African gray parrot.
2006 Bark Jan. 80/2 Full of cockatoos and parrots and one splendid African Gray. They were kept in cages, in neat rows, except for that Gray.
African honeybee n. a honeybee native to Africa; esp. one of the subspecies Apis mellifera scutellata; (also) the Africanized hybrid derived from this subspecies.
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1898 Proc. Royal Philos. Soc. Glascow 29 113 The African honey bee is very similar in appearance and colour to our own garden bee, but slightly smaller.
1960 F. S. Bodenheimer Animals & Man in Bible Lands I. 79 In Egypt lives Apis unifasciata fasciata, not belonging like all the others to the species Apis mellifica, but to the African honey-bee Apis unifasciata.
2002 D. E. Alexander Nature's Flyers (2004) x. 263 The dramatic spread of African honeybees in the Western Hemisphere provides a lesson in the effectiveness of the dispersing ability of a flying animal.
African locust tree n. any of the African species of leguminous trees of the genus Parkia (subfamily Mimosoideae); esp. Parkia biglobosa.
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1832 C. Don Gen. Hist. Dichlamydeous Plants II. Index p. vi/2 Locust-tree, African.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 847/2 The African Locust tree (Nitta or Nutta of the negroes), is a tree attaining thirty or forty feet in height.
2008 G. E. Wickens & P. Lowe Baobabs 369 They counted from 31 to 110 people, mainly women, selling..seeds of the African locust tree.
African lungfish n. any of four lungfishes that constitute the African genus Protopterus and the family Protopteridae, which have thread-like fins, typically occur in shallow fresh water, and are capable of surviving dry periods by living in a mud cocoon.
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1879 Catal. Brown Univ. 1879–80 48 Specimens of the following rarer types have lately been added for use in this department: African lung fish (Protopterus), Polypterus, [etc.].
1940 M. Lowry Let. 21 Sept. in S. E. Grace Sursum Corda! (1995) I. 354 I have seen a great film about a duck, about an African lung fish, about Latter Day Saints in Utah.
2005 Trav. Afr. Autumn 119/3 Another living fossil, the lobe-finned, air-gulping African lungfish..proves that primitive fish were well on the way to overcoming the dilemma.
African lynx n. the caracal, Felis caracal. Quot. 1791 refers to a different (unidentified) cat.
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1791 W. Smellie tr. Comte de Buffon Nat. Hist. Gen. & Particular (ed. 3) V. 212 This African or Indian lynx, which he [sc. Baron de Balicze] says was larger and more beautifully spotted than our lynx, was perhaps a kind of panther.
1869 St. Pauls 3 568 The lynx of lynxes is the caracal, or African lynx, inhabiting Africa, Arabia, and Persia, and represented by different varieties in India, Nubia, and Algeria.
1948 Cape Times 4 Dec. (Mag. section) 3/4 A lithe red shape trotting through the bush ahead..was my first sight of the African lynx or rooikat.
2003 M. Unwin Southern Afr. Wildlife (2006) 44 Also known as the African lynx, or rooikat in Afrikaans, it has a lynx-like short tail and tufted ears.
African mahogany n. the mahogany-like timber yielded by various African trees of the genera Khaya and Entandrophragma (both of the family Meliaceae); any of the trees yielding this wood.
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1831 G. Don Gen. Syst. Gardening & Bot. I. 688/1 (heading) Senegal or African Mahogany.
1890 C. S. Sargent Silva N. Amer. I. 101/1 Khaya Senegalensis.., a large tree of west-tropical Africa, supplies the so-called African mahogany.
1920 Aerial Age Weekly 3 May 259/1 The propellers were made of Central American and African mahogany, using carefully selected stock.
1971 Geogr. Rev. 61 524 Full-size trees, such as the African mahogany (Khaya ivorensis), which grows more than one hundred feet high.
2004 Mod. Drummer June 53/2 New bata drums..made from solid staves of African mahogany, with no drill holes in their shells.
African mammee apple n. a large tropical African tree, Mammea africana (family Calophyllaceae; formerly Clusiaceae), used for its edible fruit and hard timber; (also) the timber itself; cf. mammee apple n. at mammee n. Compounds 2.
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1831 G. Don Gen. Syst. Gardening & Bot. I. 619/1 (heading) African Mammee-apple.
1887 C. A. Moloney Sketch Forestry W. Afr. 280 African Mammee apple (Ochrocarpus africanus), a tree 40 to 50 feet high.
1918 Jrnl. Afr. Soc. 18 20 Mahoganies of various kinds have been found, as well as the African Mammee apple, apa and others.
2008 D. Louppe et al. Timbers 1 353/1 Vernacular names African mammee apple, African apple, African apricot, bastard mahogany, [etc.].
African marsh owl n. the marsh owl, Asio capensis.
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1921 Bull. Brit. Ornithologists' Club 42 24 If the South-African Marsh-Owl is to be regarded as distinct from the Algerian form, a new subspecific name must be given to it.]
1937 Bull. Mus. Compar. Zoöl. Harvard 81 130 The African marsh owl is found in swampy places and fairly tall grass throughout eastern Africa.
1973 J. A. Burton Owls of World ii. vii. 146 (caption) The African marsh owl Asio capensis..is an ecological equivalent of the short-eared owl.
2003 W. M. Habeeb Morocco 9 These bird species include ospreys, storks, herons, flamingos, African marsh owls, and rare bald ibis.
African nightshade n. any of several African plants of the genus Solanum (family Solanaceae); (in later use) esp. S. scabarum, cultivated as a leaf vegetable.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Solanaceae (nightshade and allies) > [noun]
morela1400
nightshadea1400
petty morel?a1425
hound's-berryc1485
micklewort1531
manicon1543
garden nightshade1576
dulcamara1578
mad nightshade1578
raging nightshade1578
sleeping nightshade1578
solanum1578
tree nightshade1597
black nightshade1607
moonshade1626
mumme tree1629
winter cherry1629
blue bindweeda1637
canker berry1651
shrub-nightshade1666
poison berry1672
nightshade1733
woody nightshade1796
Sodom apple1808
African nightshade1839
solanal1846
felon-wood1861
shoo-fly plant1949
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 150 The berries of the African nightshade (solanum guineense) have been of late years considerably applied to silk.
1849 Punch 31 Mar. 133/1 The finger and thumb holding a branch of something, African nightshade it may be.
2009 P. Maundu in C. M. Shackleton Afr. Indigenous Veg. iii. 76 The giant African nightshade (Solanum scabrum), locally known as jamajama..is extensively cultivated in western Cameroon.
African oak n. the hard and durable timber from any of several African trees, esp. African teak ( Oldfieldia africana) and iroko ( Milicia excelsa); (also) any of these trees.
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1825 S. Cock Case London Dock Company 64 The foreign materials..which go to the construction of a ship..are principally composed of African oak, or teak.
1907 Bull. Misc. Information (Royal Bot. Gardens, Kew) 64 The wood at present being imported under the name 'African Oak' is Lophira alata (Ochnaceae), a hard and heavy timber.
1987 J. C. Roecklein & P. Leung Profile Econ. Plants 413 The African oak is a tropical African tree grown for its timber, which is valued in furniture making.
2009 F. R. Frankenburg Vitamin Discov. & Disasters 86 Both ships had already traveled to the Antarctic. They were further strengthened with iron plating and additional African oak.
African partridge n. now rare any African francolin or spurfowl belonging (or formerly belonging) to the genus Francolinus.In quot. 1783 perhaps: the red spurfowl, Galloperdix spadicea, of India.
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1783 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds II. ii. 759 Brown African P[artridge]... Size of the Common Partridge. The bill yellow: irides of a fine red: the general colour of the plumage dirty red brown... Inhabits Madagascar.
1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VIII. 50 African Partridge. Lath. H. Perdix Afra., Lath. Ash-brown, with red, livid, black spots.
1884 Indian Ocean: Sailing Direct. for Mauritius (U.K. Admiralty) vii. 53 Many domestic fowls now run wild were seen, also numbers of the African partridge.
1973 Field & Stream Jan. 119/1 This is a yellow-neck. It's a spurfowl, one of a dozen or so species of francolin, or African partridge.
African penguin n. a banded penguin, Spheniscus demersus, which is the only penguin found in Africa and is confined to the coasts and waters of southern Africa; also called jackass penguin.
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the world > animals > birds > order Sphenisciformes or penguin > [noun] > member of genus Spheniscus (jackass)
jackass penguin1825
sphenisque1826
spheniscan1840
Galapagos penguin1913
African penguin1931
ringed penguin1996
a1867 C. J. Andersson Notes Birds Damara Land (1872) 348 Spheniscus demersus, Linn. South-African Penguin.]
1931 Ont. Libr. Rev. 15 123/1 Observations on the way of life of African penguins in particular, and Antarctic penguins in general.
1987 Jrnl. Field Ornithol. 58 284 Breeding African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus) have increased at Dyer Island on the south coast of South Africa.
1999 T. Pinchuck et al. S. Afr.: Rough Guide (ed. 2) 185 African penguins mate for life and return to the same nest every year.
African pepper n. any of several plants found or cultivated in Africa, the fruits of which have a hot, spicy flavour and are used in cooking; esp. Capsicum frutescens (family Solanaceae), Piper clusii (family Piperaceae), and Xylopia aethiopica (family Annonaceae); (also) the fruits themselves, usually dried and ground as a spice.
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the world > food and drink > food > additive > spice > [noun] > pepper not from Piper nigrum > types of
long peppereOE
garden ginger1526
Guinea pepper1597
Ethiopian pepper1598
chilli1662
pimiento1671
pimento1673
piment1705
capsicum1725
cayenne1756
African pepper1788
paprika1839
Negro pepper1849
Japan pepper1866
shot-pepper1890
chilli powder1898
chile ancho1906
chile mulato1907
Aleppo pepper1920
pasilla1935
mirch1951
pepperoncino1951
shishito1975
chili pepper-
1788 T. Clarkson Ess. Impolicy Afr. Slave Trade i. 13 I have hitherto mentioned such of the African peppers, as being similar to those from other quarters now in use, are known by name.
1888 T. J. Arundell Treat. on Beverages xxxvi. 669 Capsicum.—Also called Cayenne-pepper, African pepper, Spanish pepper... It is the dried fruit of the capsicum plant.
1912 H. N. Ridley Spices viii. 239 African pepper (Piper Clusii) is used to a small extent.
2002 Philadelphia Oct. 196/3 I walk out with fried plantain chips, pungent African pepper, and a jar of homemade sheeto.
African potato n. (a) any of various African plants with edible starchy tubers, as yam and cassava; (also) the tubers themselves (now rare); (b) a perennial plant, Hypoxis hemerocallidea (family Hypoxidaceae), native to South Africa, with yellow flowers, strap-like leaves, and a root which is used in herbal medicine, esp. in the treatment of disorders of the immune system.
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1841 Farmer’s Reg. 31 Jan. 2/2 (heading) Description of the African potato.
1847 Afr. Repository & Colonial Jrnl. June 179 The African potato, or cassada, grows for two years.
1902 Seychelles: Rep. 1901 Colonial Rep. 54 This plant [sc. Plectranthus rotundifolius]..of Abyssinia, has been called the African potato, and is much preferred by Europeans to the sweet potato.
1998 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 25 Sept. (News) a10 Mr. Liebenberg's mother..had heard from traditional African healers that an extract from the African potato might help.
2008 B. Goldacre Bad Sci. (2010) viii. 138 One study on African potato in HIV had to be terminated prematurely, because the patients..developed severe bone marrow suppression.
African ragwort n. now rare any of various African plants of the family Asteraceae ( Compositae); spec. any of numerous yellow-flowered, drought-adapted plants constituting the genus Othonna.
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1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Jacobæa Shrubby African Ragwort, with hoary Leaves like the umbellated Wormwood.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 956/2 Ragwort, Senecio Jacobœa, [Ragwort], African. Othonna, [Ragwort], Sea. Cineraria maritima.
1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. Othonna, A genus of plants... Their similarity to Senecio gives them the name of (African) ragwort.
1997 A. W. Smith Gardener's Handbk. Plant Names 361 (table) African ragwort—Othonna.
African rosewood n. the hard, fine-grained timber of any of various African leguminous trees, esp. of the genera Pterocarpus and Guibourtia, which is typically reddish-brown in colour and used to make veneers, furniture, and musical instruments; (also) a tree producing such timber.
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1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. I. 196*/1 (table) Rosewood, African.
1917 Jewelers' Circular 25 July 175/1 Case building somewhat in the old English Style... Mahogany with African rosewood panels in the plinth.
1979 Ebony Oct. 36/1 (advt.) Your choice of male or female busts, carved out of African Rosewood, the second most precious wood in the world.
2004 Tool & Machinery Catal. 2005 (Axminster Power Tool Centre Ltd.) xvi. 48/2 Sometimes called African Rosewood, Bubinga has delicate red-brown colouring with lighter red to purple veining.
African spinach n. any of various edible plants with leaves resembling spinach, cultivated as leaf vegetables in parts of Africa; esp. any of various amaranths, grown widely as food crops.
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1840 W. Hamilton Mem. Cultiv. Wheat within Tropics in T. Gisborne Ess. Agric (1854) 80 The African Spinach (Basella alba et rubra) is another plant, equally good for the table, and for fodder.
1871 Coral Missionary Mag. 1 Aug. 122 The tettê of the Yoruba Market trays—African Spinach—a favourite and characteristic dish.
1923 Inventory Seeds & Plants Imported (U.S. Dept. Agric.) No. 64. 14 Amaranth... The leaves constitute the African spinach extensively eaten by the natives and Europeans. Grown about every cabin.
2001 J. Fedor Org. Gardening v. 246/1 Grown for its light green oval leaves, which are especially popular in Indian, African and West Indian cooking, amaranthus is also known as Indian or African spinach.
African tulip tree n. a large tropical African tree, Spathodea campanulata (family Bignoniaceae), with bright red flowers, widely grown in tropical climates for ornament and as a shade tree.
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1891 Ann. Rep. Dept. Agric. 1890–91 (Brisbane) 63 (table) Spathodea campanulata... African tulip tree... West Africa.
1955 Caribbean Q. 4 107 Mrs Doreen Thorpe..officially lighted the large African tulip tree (Spathodea campanulata) which had been strung with colored lights.
2005 B. Concord & J. Concord Costa Rica 53 Another colourful tree is the African tulip tree, which has deep green leaves and brilliant red-orange blossoms tinged with yellow.
African walnut n. the mahogany-like timber from the tropical African tree Lovoa trichiloides ( Meliaceae) which is typically used for furniture; (also) the tree itself.
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1898 Werner's Mag. 21 314 It was consigned as African walnut but names in the lumber trade are as trustworthy as Havana dispatches.
1918 Jrnl. Afr. Soc. 18 22 The African walnut, named thus from the colour of its timber... It is however, a mahogany botanically.
1984 Pop. Sci. Apr. 179/1 (advt.) The Swift's hull is planked twice;..limewood for strength, then..planks of African walnut for lasting beauty.
2010 J. Dinwoodie in P. L. J. Domone & J. M. Illston Constr. Materials (ed. 4) lii. 421/1 Dark gum-veins, as present in African walnut, contribute to the pleasing alternations in colour.
African wildcat n. a small wildcat of the subspecies Felis silvestris lybica, found widely in Africa and the Middle East, which is believed to be the ancestor of the domestic cat.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Felidae (feline) > [noun] > genus Felis > felis sylvestris (wild cat)
wild catc1400
African wildcat1853
grass cat1890
1853 Catal. Osteol. Series Mus. Royal Coll. Surgeons II. 714 The skull of a male African Wild Cat.
1927 Irish Naturalists' Jrnl. 1 217 Dr. R. F. Scharff identified remains of the African Wild Cat..in a cave in Co. Clare, Ireland.
2001 Cats May 22/3 The Gordon's wildcat is related to the African wildcat, which is generally considered to be the ancestor of the house cat.
Derivatives
ˈAfrican-ˌlike adv. and adj.
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1633 E. Kellett Misc. Divinitie ii. ix. 89 Even Jupiter is ruled by good reason, saith Cicero and Tertullian, more African-like, God and reason are at one.
1806 B. T. Duhigg Hist. King's Inns iii. 448 The Student may then, African like, feel that he trod the soil of Liberty and Law.
1869 J. W. Clayton Sunny South v. 80 We glided over the wide African-like plains and dried-up watercourses.
1992 T. Morison Playing in Dark i. 6 An investigation into the ways in which a nonwhite, Africanlike (or Africanist) presence or persona was constructed in the United States.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.adj.eOE