bwana
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English
Etymology
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)
- (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
Anguthimri
Noun
bwana
- (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
Noun
bwána class 1a (plural abwána class 2)
Italian
Noun
bwana m (invariable)
Old Sundanese
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Sanskrit भुवन (bhuvana, “the world”).
Noun
bwana
- the world
- Synonym: dunya
- c. 14th century, Astana Gede Inscription:
- ...pakena gawé rahayu pakeun heubeul jaya dina buana.
- ... should do good in order to prosper long in this world.
Descendants
- ⇒ Sundanese: ᮘᮥᮃᮔ (buana, “continent”)
Swahili
Alternative forms
- (abbreviation) Bw.
Etymology
From Arabic أَبُونَا (ʔabūnā, “our father”).
Pronunciation
Noun
bwana (ma class, plural mabwana)