zagaye

Noun

assegai (plural assegais)

1. A slim hardwood spear or javelin with an iron tip, especially those used by Bantu peoples of Southern Africa.
   • But now the Moormen, stalking o'er the strand / to guard the wat'ery stores the strangers need; / this, targe on arm and assegai in hand, / that, with his bended bow, and venom'd reed[.]1880, Richard Francis Burton, Os Lusíadas, volume I, page 33
2. The tree species Curtisia dentata, the wood of which is traditionally used to make assegais.
   • In the clearing, built around the base of an assegai tree, stood a hut, plastered in cow dung.2019, Marlon James, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Hamish Hamilton, page 236

See all 3 meanings of assegai