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Webster 1913 Edition


Kraal

Kraal

(kräl or kra̤l; 277)
,
Noun.
[D., a village, inclosure, park, prob. fr. Pg.
curral
a cattle pen; the same word as Sp.
corral
. See
Corral
.]
1.
A collection of huts within a stockade; a village; sometimes, a single hut.
[South Africa]
2.
An inclosure into which are driven wild elephants which are to be tamed and educated.
[Ceylon]

Webster 1828 Edition


Kraal

KRAAL

,
Noun.
In the southern part of Africa, among the Hottentots, a village; a collection of huts.

Definition 2024


kraal

kraal

English

Noun

kraal (plural kraals)

  1. In Central and Southern Africa, a small rural community.
    • 1861, Charles John Andersson, Lake Ngami, chapter VII, page 89
      Onanis is the permanent residence of a kraal of very poor Hill-Damaras, who subsist chiefly upon the few wild roots which their sterile neighborhood produces.
    • 1979, André Brink, A Dry White Season, Vintage 1998, p. 88:
      ‘The paraffin box covered with newsprint, and the primus, and the bucket standing on the floor, and a photo of our kraal’s chief on the wall.’
  2. In Central and Southern Africa, a rural village of huts surrounded by a stockade.
    • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 6:
      A kraal was a homestead and usually included a simple fenced-in enclosure for animals, fields for growing crops, and one or more thatched huts.
  3. An enclosure for livestock.
    • 2000, Jonathan Amos, "'Funny creature' toast of Botswana", BBC News Online, 3 July 2000:
      The animal, which is now six years old, was born naturally from the mating of a female goat with a male sheep sharing the same kraal.

Synonyms

Translations

See also

  • boma (East African)
  • crawl (Jamaican English)

Verb

kraal (third-person singular simple present kraals, present participle kraaling, simple past and past participle kraaled)

  1. To enclose livestock within a kraal or stockade.
    • 1861, Charles John Andersson, Lake Ngami, chapter XXVIII, page 343
      [] he knew that one of these beasts was in the habit of harassing the goat-kids, which, for better security, he had kraaled against the wall of the house.

Synonyms

  • (to enclose livestock): corral

Translations

Anagrams


Afrikaans

Etymology

From Portuguese curral, probably via Dutch kraal.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /krɑːl/

Noun

kraal (plural kralen)

  1. kraal, corral: enclosure for livestock

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology

From Portuguese curral.

Noun

kraal f (plural kralen, diminutive kraaltje n)

  1. bead (of a necklace or abacus)
  2. kraal, corral: enclosure for livestock

Synonyms

Derived terms

Anagrams