assegai

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as·se·gai

or as·sa·gai  (ăs′ə-gī′)
n.
1. A light spear or lance used by Bantu peoples of southern Africa.
2. A tall evergreen tree (Curtisia dentata) of southern Africa, having durable wood used for making weapons, furniture, and other wooden products, and bark that is used in traditional medicine.
[Early Modern English, from Middle French azagaye (probably via Old Spanish azagaya, a small spear or javelin), from Arabic az-zaġāya, the spear : al-, the + zaġāya, spear, of Berber origin; akin to Tuareg tăhġait, bayonet, from earlier *tăzġait (*tă-...-t, feminine noun circumfix).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

assegai

(ˈæsəˌɡaɪ) or

assagai

n, pl -gais
1. (Plants) a southern African cornaceous tree, Curtisia faginea, the wood of which is used for making spears
2. (Arms & Armour (excluding Firearms)) a sharp light spear, esp one made of this wood
[C17: from Portuguese azagaia, from Arabic az zaghāyah, from al the + zaghāyah assegai, from Berber]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

as•se•gai

or as•sa•gai

(ˈæs əˌgaɪ)

n., pl. -gais.
1. an iron-tipped spear used by Bantu peoples of S Africa.
2. a S African tree, Curtisia dentata, of the dogwood family, from whose wood such weapons were made.
[1615–25; earlier azagaia < Portuguese < Arabic az zaghāyah]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.assegai - the slender spear of the Bantu-speaking people of Africaassegai - the slender spear of the Bantu-speaking people of Africa
assagai
lance, spear, shaft - a long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations

assegai

n → Assagai m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Mentioned in ?
References in classic literature ?
Few have known it, for I have kept it locked in my breast, lest, thought I live now under the law of the White Man, and the Great Queen is my chieftainess, an assegai still might find this heart did any know my name.
I felt you start; you start as the regiment of the Bees started when Mopo walked before their ranks, and from the assegai in his hand the blood of Chaka[1] dropped slowly to the earth.
He stalked across the mountains and the veldt, his eyes blazed like the lightning, and in his hand he shook a little assegai that was red with blood.
View in context
As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.
"Is it to that land that thou wouldst journey, Incubu?" (a native word meaning, I believe, an elephant, and the name given to Sir Henry by the Kafirs), he said, pointing towards the mountain with his broad assegai.
Umbopa, assegai in hand and a rifle across his shoulders, looked out fixedly across the desert a few paces ahead of us; while the hired natives, with the gourds of water, and Ventvogel, were gathered in a little knot behind.
View in context
Raise your war-cries, brothers, for though they made us leave our assegais in the kraal.
Honouring the unsung heroes of a forgotten shipwreck
There's little doubt our politicians sorely underestimated the native force, armed with only hide shields, knobkerrie clubs, assegais - long, throwing spears - and shorter, stabbing spears dubbed iklwa, a Zulu word which described the slurping noise as the weapon was pulled from a victim.
Shields that prove blockbuster movie Zulu got it WRONG; Plaques reveal names of 91 brave Midlands men who fought in Anglo-Zulu War
The Empire-grabbing reasons for being there may have been dubious, but I always think of the ordinary soldier, thousands of miles from home, in the fierce heat, listening to the menacing buzz of 4,000 assegais in the distance, beating against ox-hide shields as the Zulus advanced.
WAY OUT WEST
Everybody there appeared to be under arms, with machetes, staves and even assegais. Why?
Police had no other options; Yousay IN YOUR OPINION..
When he found one, he saw several African artifacts, including grotesque wooden masks, scenic paintings, and assegais. On a wall, was the overpowering portrait of an African warrior throwing a spear at a horde of armed men who also wore bonnets of ostrich feathers?
Like a Durian
Superstitious beliefs take away the mind's power, rather than bestowing physical power on enemy assegais.
B.W. Vilakazi and the birth of the Zulu novel/B.W. Vilakazi en die ontstaan van die Zuluroman

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