zulu

Where does the word "zulu" come from? It comes from Zulu izulu, passing through Zulu before entering English (1824).

Zulu’s story begins in Zulu: izulu meant “sky, heaven.” The root word from which the Zulu royal clan's founder took his name. Within Zulu, it grew into uZulu by c. 1709. His descendants and followers became known as amaZulu, 'the people of Zulu'. It reached English by 1824 as Zulu. From the ancestor Zulu kaMalandela, whose name means 'heaven'; Shaka built the Zulu kingdom in the 1810s. Today, zulu means the Zulu people or language of southern Africa; also used for the letter Z in the NATO phonetic alphabet and for Coordinated Universal Time.

1. Stage 1 · Zulu · ancient izulu "sky, heaven", the root word from which the Zulu royal clan's founder took his name.
2. Stage 2 · Zulu · c. 1709 uZulu "personal name of the founder of the amaZulu clan", his descendants and followers became known as amaZulu, 'the people of Zulu'.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1824 Zulu "the Zulu people or their language", from the ancestor Zulu kaMalandela, whose name means 'heaven'; Shaka built the Zulu kingdom in the 1810s.