mzee

mzee

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Swahili mzee.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /(ə)mˈzeɪ/

Noun

mzee (plural mzees or wazee)

1. (East Africa) An elder (old person).
   • 2003, Ward S Just, The American Ambassador‎

     ...every President since Teddy Roosevelt saw Africa in the faces of her mzees, in their English suits or tribal robes...

   • 2005, Ernest Hemingway, Robert William Lewis, Under Kilimanjaro‎

     It is difficult to be both and the older mzees resent the irregularity of the position.

   • 2006, Edward I Steinhart, Black poachers, white hunters: a social history of hunting in colonial Kenya‎

     ...we arranged an impromptu interview with this reluctant and less than candid local mzee, who lived near the Tsavo boundary.

Anagrams

• meze

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Swahili

Etymology

From -zee (“old”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mˈzɛː/

Noun

mzee (m-wa class, plural wazee)

1. elder, respected old person
2. title of respect to anyone older than oneself, including parents

Adjective

mzee

1. M class inflected form of -zee.
2. U class inflected form of -zee.