kraals

Noun

kraal (plural kraals)

1. In Central and Southern Africa, a small rural community.
   • Onanis is the permanent residence of a kraal of very poor Hill-Damaras, who subsist chiefly upon the few wild roots which their sterile neighborhood produces.1861, Charles John Andersson, “chapter VII”, in Lake Ngami, page 89
2. In Central and Southern Africa, a rural village of huts surrounded by a stockade.
   • A kraal was a homestead and usually included a simple fenced-in enclosure for animals, fields for growing crops, and one or more thatched huts.1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus, published 2010, page 6
3. An enclosure for livestock.
   • The animal, which is now six years old, was born naturally from the mating of a female goat with a male sheep sharing the same kraal.2000 July 3, Jonathan Amos, “'Funny creature' toast of Botswana”, in BBC News Online

   Synonyms:

   corral, pen

See all 4 meanings of kraal