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Where does the word "shamba" come from? It comes from Swahili shamba, and was adopted directly into English (1900s).
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Where does the word "shamba" come from? It comes from Swahili shamba, and was adopted directly into English (1900s).
Shamba’s story begins in Swahili: shamba meant “a cultivated plot, farm, or plantation.” Of uncertain deeper origin within Swahili, denoting small-scale farmland. It reached English by 1900s as shamba. Used in East African English for a smallholding or plot of crops. Today, shamba means a small cultivated farm or plot of land, especially in East Africa.
- Stage 1 · Swahili · 1840s shamba "a cultivated plot, farm, or plantation", of uncertain deeper origin within Swahili, denoting small-scale farmland.
- Stage 2 · English · 1900s shamba "a small farm or cultivated plot", used in East African English for a smallholding or plot of crops.