Kabakas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term used to describe a leader or chief in certain cultures; a title historically assigned to tribal or regional heads; a designation for a person with authority or command within a community
2. Referring to a chief ruler or influential person in a traditional society; a name for a figure who holds power over a group or region; an honorific for a community leader or boss
3. Identifying a person vested with leadership roles in a local or indigenous governance system; a label for someone recognized as the head or governor of a specific area; an appellation for a prominent authority figure in tribal or social contexts

Etymology: "Kabakas" is the plural of "kabaka", a word for a king or tribal chief, and it reached English from Luganda, the Bantu language of the Buganda kingdom in what is now Uganda. In Luganda, "akabaka" denoted a king, and the title was tied to the Buganda monarchy, which the English term has kept in use for its historic rulers. The plural form in English is used when referring to more than one such ruler, as in discussions of the successive kings of Buganda. Because the word was borrowed directly from a Bantu language rather than arriving through Latin or French, it stands apart from most English vocabulary of political rank.