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Main meanings of Venda in English

: Venda1Venda2

Venda1

Pronunciation /ˈvɛndə/

proper noun

  • A former homeland established in South Africa for the Venda people, now part of Limpopo.

Main meanings of Venda in English

: Venda1Venda2

Venda2

Pronunciation /ˈvɛndə/

nounplural noun Venda, plural noun Vendas

  • 1A member of a people traditionally living in Limpopo province and southern Zimbabwe.

    ‘The Venda of southern Africa believe the soul of the deceased stays near the grave for a while before inhabiting another body.’
    • ‘But because every person has the ability to learn what it means to be a Venda through singing and dancing, clearly all human beings, all the members of that tribe, have that capability.’
    • ‘As much could be lost in SA too; the richly-cultured Venda have already lost with the gradual diminution of their chiefs.’
    • ‘This region and neighboring areas of the Northern Province are also home to other ethnic groups, including the Lovedu, Tsonga, Ndebele, Venda, Zulu, and Afrikaners.’

  • 2mass noun The Bantu language of the Venda, which has about 800,000 speakers in South Africa, where it is an official language.

    ‘Other languages spoken in Zimbabwe are Tonga, Shangaan, and Venda.’
    • ‘There are other languages, Tswana, Venda, and Ndebela.’
    • ‘But quite rightly, within their families the proud Afrikaners will maintain their traditions, and their language will take its place alongside Zulu, Xhosa, Venda, and all the other tribal languages.’
    • ‘The leaflets have been published in seven of the eleven official language, namely: Afrikaans, Tsonga, Sesotho, Zulu, English, Venda and Xhosa.’
    • ‘The least spoken languages were Venda and Ndebele at two percent each.’

adjective

  • Relating to the Venda or their language.

    ‘Some draw on Christian symbolism (he has frequently explored the fish theme), while others suggest inspiration from traditional Venda mythology or folk stories.’
    • ‘Joice Mabasa, daughter of renowned Venda sculptor Noria Mabasa, says the family is ‘happy’ about the honour bestowed on them.’
    • ‘As leaders of the Venda people, I urge you to take part in the local government structures.’
    • ‘This was an attempt by the Venda artist to unite the people of a small Limpopo village called Dopeni.’
    • ‘I'll take one example: the Venda tribe in South Africa is what we call a ‘pre-literate’ tribe, i.e. they don't use writing and formal language in that way.’

Origin

The stem of Venda Muvenda (in Venda (sense 1 of the noun)), Tshivenda (in Venda (sense 2 of the noun)).