bwana

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Afroasiatic *ʔab-

Proto-Semitic *ʔabw-

Arabic أَبُونَا (ʔabūnā)bor.

Swahili bwanabor.

English bwana

Borrowed from Swahili bwana (“master”), from Arabic أَبُونَا (ʔabūnā, “our father”). Doublet of abbot.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbwɑːnə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːnə

Noun

bwana (plural bwanas)

1. (slang) Big boss, important person.
   • 2005, David Foster Wallace, Consider the Lobster and Other Essays, New York: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 208:

     It is Jim C.’s custom always to say “Up Simba” in a fake-deep bwana voice as he hefts the camera to his right shoulder […]

Usage notes

• Not always used as a favorable term.

Anagrams

• Waban, ba-wan, bawan, nawab

Anguthimri

Noun

bwana

1. (Mpakwithi) bream

References

• Terry Crowley, The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri (1981), page 185

Chichewa

Etymology

Borrowed from Swahili bwana (“master”), from Arabic أَبُونَا (ʔabūnā, “our father”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɓʷá.na/

Noun

bwána class 1a (plural abwána class 2)

1. boss, master

Italian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

bwana m (invariable)

1. bwana

Old Sundanese

Alternative forms

• buana

Etymology

From Sanskrit भुवन (bhuvana, “the world”).

Noun

bwana

1. the world

   Synonym: dunya

   • c. 14th century, Astana Gede inscriptions:

     ...pakena gawe rahhayu pakĕn hĕbĕl jaya dina buana.

     ... should do good in order to prosper long in this world.

   • c. 1518, Sanghyang Siksakandang Karesian (Kropak 630), 14 recto:

     Ini na paṅgihkĕnön dina sakala, taṅtu batara dina bwana pakĕn pagĕh jadi manik sakuruṅṅan.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• ⇒ Sundanese: buana (“continent”)

Swahili

Alternative forms

• (abbreviation) Bw.

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Afroasiatic *ʔab-

Proto-Semitic *ʔabw-

Arabic أَبُونَا (ʔabūnā)bor.

Swahili bwana

Borrowed from Arabic أَبُونَا (ʔabūnā, “our father”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

bwana class V (plural mabwana class VI)

1. master, lord
2. mister, Mr.
3. boss
4. husband

Coordinate terms

• bibi

Derived terms

• bwana harusi

Descendants

• → Chichewa: bwana
• → English: bwana