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Bwana

2 stages from Swahili to English.

Today it means a term of address for a man, used informally to mean boss
1
Stage 1 of 2
bwana
Swahili · 1800s
"master, sir"
a respectful term of address for a man of authority
2
Stage 2 of 2
bwana
English · 1900s
"a term of respectful address for a man"
picked up by English speakers in colonial East Africa
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