Etymology
Further information: Great Zimbabwe and Rhodesia (name)Zimbabwe was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia (1923), Rhodesia (1965), and Zimbabwe Rhodesia (1979). The name Zimbabwe was introduced from ca. 1960 in the context of the potential name of the country once independent, and used by the African nationalist factions in the Second Chimurenga, the most major of which were the Zimbabwe African National Union (led by Robert Mugabe from 1975), and the Zimbabwe African People's Union, led by Joshua Nkomo from its founding in the early 1960s.
The name is based on a Shona name for a ruined ancient city whose remains are now a protected site. It is officially referred to as Great Zimbabwe, and was first recorded as Symbaoe in 1531 by Vicente Pegado, Captain of the Portuguese garrison of Sofala.
There are two theories on the origin of the word "Zimbabwe". Various sources hold that the word is derived from dzimba-dza-mabwe, translated from the Karanga dialect of Shona as "large houses of stone" (dzimba = plural of imba, "house"; mabwe = plural of bwe, "stone"). The Karanga-speaking Shona people are found around Great Zimbabwe in the modern-day province of Masvingo. Archaeologist Peter Garlake claims that "Zimbabwe" is a contracted form of dzimba-hwe which means "venerated houses" in the Zezuru dialect of Shona, and is usually applied to chiefs' houses or graves.
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
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