Matabeles

Variant of Matabele

Matabele definition

Mata·bele (mat′ə bē′lē)

noun pl. Matabele -·be′le or Matabeles -·be′les

a member of a Zulu people driven out of the Transvaal and into Rhodesia by the Boers in 1837

Etymology: < Zulu name, lit., vanishing (or hidden) people: from “hiding” behind large leather shields in battle

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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