Assegais

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of traditional spear or javelin used primarily by certain African tribes for hunting and combat purposes
2. A lightweight, pointed weapon historically employed by indigenous peoples in Africa, often thrown or used in close combat
3. A spear characterized by a slender shaft and sharp tip, traditionally crafted for use in hunting and warfare by various cultures in Africa

Etymology: "Assegais" is the plural of "assegai", and the singular has an unexpectedly long journey behind it. The weapon's name passed through Arabic and into Europe well before it reached English. Colloquial Arabic had "az-zaghaya", which came from a Proto-Berber root meaning "spear", and Iberian and French speakers borrowed it as forms like "azagaya", "azagaie" and "zagaie". The word therefore names a spear whose name was first borrowed by Europeans, not one that English speakers coined. The English form came from Afrikaans, the language of Dutch-descended settlers in southern Africa, where the word was "assegaai". Those settlers encountered the weapon among the Zulu, Xhosa and other peoples of the region, and the Afrikaans spelling carried it into English. The result is a word whose path runs from North Africa through Spain and France, then through the Cape Colony, before it reached the English language.

Synonyms: spear, dart