Word.ws English Dictionary

Mambookie

Mambookie noun: synonym of Mpondo (“a Bantu people group indigenous to South Africa or a member of it”).

Noun

Mambookie (plural Mambookies or Mambookie)

  1. (South Africa, obsolete) Synonym of Mpondo (“a Bantu people group indigenous to South Africa or a member of it”).
    • Adjoining this nation, towards the north, there is, according to them, a still more warlike and intrepid people, whom they call Mambukis.1786, Anders Sparrman, translated by Georg Foster, A Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, 2 edition, volume 2, page 147
    • [A]s, for instance, at the present day we find the Amakosa and Amatembu branches perfectly distinct from that of the Mambookie.1836, Robert Godlonton, Introductory Remarks to a Narrative of the Irruption of the Kafir Hordes Into the Eastern Province of the Cape of Good Hope, A.D. 1834-35, Meurant and Godlonton, page 211
    Synonyms:
    Mpondo

Adjective

Mambookie (not comparable)

  1. (South Africa, obsolete) Synonym of Mpondo (“of or relating to the people group”).
    • The reader, by referring to the map, will perceive that the great range of mountains […] is continued through what is called the Mambookie country, and that of the tribes beyond, as far as the vicinity of Delagoa bay.1827, George Thompson, chapter 18, in Travels and Adventures in Southern Africa, volume 2, Henry Colburn, page 203
    • He is not a Caffe, but a Mambookie chief, residing about one hundred and twenty miles from Butterworth, in a direct line towards Port Natal.1834, Thomas Smith, John Overton Choules, The Origin and History of Missions, page 166
    Synonyms:
    Mpondo

Synonyms of Mambookie

Forms of Mambookie

pluralMambookies
pluralMambookie
alternative formMambuki
alternative formMambucki

Origin of Mambookie

Uncertain. Probably from Xhosa amaMbo or Zulu amaMbo affixed with the Afrikaans -ie diminutive; compare Tambookie. Alternatively a Khoekhoe term. First attested in 1786.

Questions about Mambookie

What does Mambookie mean?
Mambookie means synonym of Mpondo (“a Bantu people group indigenous to South Africa or a member of it”).
What part of speech is Mambookie?
Mambookie can be a noun or an adjective.
What is the plural of Mambookie?
The plural of Mambookie is Mambookies.

Words near Mambookie in the dictionary

  1. mamboed
  2. mamboes
  3. Mambog
  4. Mambog-Mandama
  5. mamboing
  6. Mambookie
  7. Mambookies
  8. mambos
  9. Mambourin
  10. mambrino
  11. mambrinos

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Mambookie (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

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