morann.
/mɒˈrɑːn/, U.S. /mɔˈrɑn/ East African.
Among the Masai people of East Africa: a member of a warrior group consisting of the younger unmarried males in a community.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warriors collectively > [noun] > African
impi1862
ilmoran1885
moran1914
the world > people > ethnicities > peoples of Africa > peoples of East Africa > [noun] > peoples with Nilotic or Hamitic mixture > warrior group of Masai
ilmoran1885
moran1914
1914 Law Rep. E. Afr. Protectorate (1967) 5 210 The Plaintiff, a Moran of the Ol Damat tribe, claims 14 head of cattle and 2 donkeys, which the Defendant, a Mzee of the Purko tribe, says belong to him.
1947 E. Afr. Ann. 1946–7 43/1 The ‘moran’ are the warrior age-grade... In the past the ‘moran’ constituted a free military organization within the tribe.
1960 Times 8 Nov. 13/2 One Kikuyu was killed and a score were injured by Masai moran.
1961 Encounter Jan. 24/2 He had killed two of the Masai morans..cutting the throat of the other with his simi.
1990 R. Bly Iron John vii. 202 The old men initiators among the Gisu and Masai in Africa lead the young ‘moran’ men immediately into the red.
Derivatives
ˈmoranhood n.
ΚΠ
1946 E. H. Windley in K. Tidrick Empire & Eng. Char. (1992) v. 184 Introducing some of our ideas on personal training and discipline to ensure bringing the young men of the tribe to hand..in the early stages of their Moranhood.
1980 R. Rhodes Last Safari ii. x. 207 Warriorhood was a long haul, junior and senior moranhood extending from the fourteenth to the twenty-fifth year.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1914