Standard Lemma guide

imbongi

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪmˈbɒŋɡi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ɪmˈbɔŋɡi/
  • General-American: /-ˈbɑŋ-/
  • General-South-African: /ɪmˈbɔːŋɡi/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A praise singer, a traditional bard in Zulu culture.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: South-Africa

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Zulu in- Proto-Nguni *-bonga Zulu -bonga Proto-Bantu *-ì Zulu -i Zulu ímbongibor. Xhosa in- Proto-Nguni *-bonga Xhosa -bonga Xhosa -i Xhosa ímbongibor. English imbongi Borrowed from Zulu imbongi and Xhosa imbongi. The plural izimbongi is derived from Zulu, while iimbongi is from Xhosa.