Donga

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈdɔŋɡə/

Definitions

1. A natural or artificial dry gully or ravine typically formed by water erosion ; a narrow trench or ditch dug to channel water away from an area
2. An eroded or dug-out channel on a hillside or land to carry water ; a drainage trench designed to prevent water accumulation
3. A steep-sided hollow or furrow in the earth created by running water ; an excavated channel that directs excess water to avoid flooding

Etymology: The word arrived in English from Afrikaans, the Dutch-derived language of South Africa, where "donga" named a steep-sided gully cut into the land by running water. Afrikaans in turn borrowed it from Zulu, in which "udonga" (the Zulu word for such a gully) traces back to a reconstructed Proto-Bantu form, a root shared by the ancestral languages of much of central, southern and eastern Africa. The word thus passed through two languages before reaching English, carried along with the vocabulary of southern African farming and travel. The sense the English word carries is close to its source: a channel eroded into a hillside or open ground by heavy rain, or a trench dug deliberately to lead water away and stop it pooling. Anyone who has seen red earth gouged into ravines after a storm has seen the thing the word names.