V.10. MISCELLANEOUS WORDS, PART 10/10 (nzi-z)
Note: The “/” sign in the word definition separates two definitions of the same word depending on how it is pronounced.
– nziabika : shroud, cloth for burial
– nziadu : fold
– nziadudu / nziadulu / (ki)ziadudu : fold, wrinkle of a cloth, pleated coat
– nziaka : sound of nibbling
– nziala / nzuala : tattoo lines near the eyes
– nzianga : young girl, virgin woman, young woman / debauched man or woman, lustful
– nzianga : spices, bribe, lawyer’s fees
– nzia-nzia : footpath, track, trail, spoor / stripe, line / line of the hand
– nziaza / nziazia : stripe, line, selvedge of a fabric / dash, stroke, line, rainbow / row of people
– nzibudilu : openning, introduction, introduction to the subject
– nziela : wrinkle, fold, pleat, gather / delay, slowness
– nziele : virgin woman, young woman
– nzielo : measurement of something / tail, panel, corner, edge of a sleeve fabric
– nzielolo : test, trial, attempt
– nzie-nzie : noise, clatter of the rings at the feet
– nzienzie : row of people / stroke, line / beauty
– nziesila : fragment, quarter moon, crescent moon
– nzieta : vertigo, epilepsy, whirling, swirling, giddiness, circular movement, detour
– nzieta : ability to confuse, to mislead / fire, spirit, passion / amulet
– nzieta : difficult trial, complicated trial / palm oil in the solid state
– nzieta : trap whose snare thread is set in the middle to be hit and trigger the catching
– nzietani : person who lurches, who staggers, who totters, who sways
– nzieta-nzieta : who is busy with multiple occupations, who doesn’t know which way to turn
– nzieti : traveller, pilgrim, tourist
– nzietolo : travel, pilgrimage, tour, tourism
– nzieto-nzieto : aptitude for being double-dealer, habit of not wanting to hear or do
– nzietoso : zig-zag, zigzag
– nzietula : who is overwhelmed in different ways
– nziezie : carelessness, thoughtlessness, scattiness, haste / avarice, the one who is miserly
– nzika : friend / person who will be buried alive at the fair / lidded basket / jigger, tick
– nziki : difficulty / musician / musical instrument
– nzikila : wrinkle, frown
– nzila : road, path, track / thorny plant species
– nzimbiti : cold, freshness
– nzimbu: currency that was used in the Kongo Kingdom, money, dough
– nzimbu : blue pearls, goods, property / person adopted by a clan
– nzimbu : funerals / intelligence, subtlety, genius / species of grass
– nzimbukusu : forgetfulness, misguidance, misplacement, alienation
– nzinda / nzindibidi : avarice, miserliness
– nzinga : child whose umbilical cord wrapped around the neck at birth
– nzinga : corner, angle, side of a house where the door is placed / duration / smallness, little
– nzinga : winding / iron ring with many spirals / kind of banana
– nzinga : the one who assembles, the one who brings together, unifier
– nzinga-nzinga : thing that grows in a spiral / surroundings, neighborhood, proximity
– nzingi : which lasts, which is permanent, which is persistent
– nzingidi-nzingidi : twisted thing, spirally braided thing
– nzingu : quarrel, fight, struggle, battle, brawl / affluence, large crowd / eternity, perpetuity
– nzingu : pleat, fold of a garment / sewing stitch / burial, shroud / ring, circumference, buckle
– nzinguluka / nziunguluka : surroundings
– nzinunu : desire, covetousness
– nzinzia / nzizia : cold, coldness, freshness, sweatiness, mugginess, humidity, dampness
– nzio : small, thin, slight, slim, slender
– nzioka : rarity / measurement of about 1 meter, the length of two arms, a height gauge
– nzioko / nziokolo : avarice, miserliness
– nziole / nzolo : fishhook
– nziolo : opening of a fish trap where the tips are placed
– nziongo : eyelet, ring, roundness / pinch / wound on the sole of the foot
– nziongololo : roundness / that which is round
– nziongono / nziongo : pinch, pinching
– nzionzo : that which is small
– nziozi : painful whiplash, shooting pain / larva, caterpillar with stinging hair
– nziozio : feeling of coolness / that which burns, which throbs / type of hairstyle for initiates
– nzita : buckle knot / fisherman’s place on the bank of a watercourse
– nzitika : buckle knot, circle, something that surrounds
– nzitikila : fiancée, engagement gift, installation gift / deposit from a worker
– nzitusu : respect, deference, honour
– nziu : thick darkness, purple colour, dark blue, black
– nziunga / nzunga : detour, circumference, circuit / vertigo, dizziness, giddiness
– nziunguluka : the surroundings, the vicinity
– nziunziu : a little bit
– nziuti / yuti : large crowd, public
– nziwa : constellation, zodiac
– nzo : house, home
– nzobadila : cash cow, goose that lays the golden eggs, a person that everyone benefits from
– nzoko-nzoko : stuttering, fast speech / loquacity, chatter / air rifle
– (n)zola : love of neighbour, understanding / love, desire, aspiration, lover / piety
– nzolakani : approval
– nzolani / nzonono : mutual love, mutual devotion
– nzole : pair, couple, second
– nzolo : interior of a round hole, round opening of a trap / pointed arrows / fish hook
– nzoloko : tattoo on the chest
– nzoluelo : repentance, regret
– nzoma / nzomi : inability to stay in balance
– nzombe : large leaf that is used to wrap the cassava cake
– nzombo : affair, palaver, trial / protuberance, abscess
– nzombo : place where game is expected to pass, end of a grassy jungle
– nzomono : chase, deportation, eviction, ejection, expulsion, clearing out, scattering, dismissal
– nzomua : persecuted person
– nzonde : hamlet, section of a village
– nzondo : one-legged / unicycle, cart on one wheel / odd state, part of a pair, uniqueness
– nzondo : channel / latrines / cyclone
– nzonga : capacity measure
– nzongila : action of measuring products for sale, retail trade
– nzong-nzing : extra-activity, additional activity, occasional work
– nzongo : gunpowder, rifle shot, sound of a gunshot, detonation
– nzongolo : noise, racket, din, rattling / retail item
– nzonza : words, talk / quarrel, trial / fable, story, narrative / stick, footbridge
– nzonzi : spokesperson or negotiator in customary marriages or talks between families
– nzonzi : pipe handle decorated with copper rings, copper casing for rifle stick
– nzonzika : arranging, arrangement, order
– nzonzolo : speech, discussion, way of speaking, language, idiom
– nzonzubuta : quarrel, rumpus, noise
– nzosomba : ambiguity
– nzowaladi : melancholic person
– nzozakana : small house
– nzozo : jungle of unburned herbs
– nzua / nsua : freshness / what is fresh, what is recent, what has just been cooked
– nzua : which is cut, who is circumcised
– nzuadi / nzuadu : pole, wand, wicker for whipping
– nzuakila / nzuakula : pole, wand, rod, cane, switch
– nzuanana : point or corner of an unburned bush
– nzuanda : kind of tam-tam, kind of dance / baby food
– nzuanda / nzuenda : firearm, rifle
– nzuanga / nzuangabala / nzuangala : length, that which is long, that which is elongated
– nzuangi / nzuanzu : pole, wicker, osier
– nzuangibila : length
– nzuangu : that which is small, small thing
– nzuangubula : great length
– nzuani / nzuawu : rod, cane, whip
– nzuanzuanzua : speed, swiftness, rapidity / species of bird (Laniarus dubiosus)
– nzuazua : stick, pole for fence, small branch used to build, roof rafter
– nzuba : handle of a pickaxe or hoe / trap for eels / dance of the country’s chief
– nzubu : a dive into the water / haste
– nzubukulu : insipidness, dullness
– nzubulu : old man
– nzuele : opening into the interior of a trap or fish net
– nzuenga / nzuenge : metal / sword, large knife
– nzuenge : channel of light, grain of light / small cooking pot
– nzuengi : crime, offense, misdemeanor, guilt / copper necklace
– nzui : first sound of a drum while it is being tried
– nzuka : blow hit / great length of something / trap / payment of an annuity / suckling pig
– nzuku : abundance, greatness / emoluments, remuneration, gain, profit
– nzumbi : joke, jest, mockery / speed of execution, dexterity, skill, virtuosity
– nzumbi : hiding place where we wait for the game during a hunt
– nzumbi : person who occasionally helps with work, seasonal worker
– nzumbulu (manzumbulu) : dizziness
– nzundu : hammer, anvil / tick, jigger
– nzungidila : circle of acquaintances, surroundings, vicinity, proximity
– nzungu : boundary of a field or a piece of land / wage for the breeding of animals of others
– nzungu : torment, difficulty, destitution, need, poverty, indigence
– nzunguni : passerby
– nzunuka : stifling heat, suffocating heat, burning wind / weakness, fatigue, weariness
– nzunzu / nzunza : bravery, fearlessness, audacity, vivacity, joviality, hyperactivity, vigour
– nzunzu / nzunza : joy, cheerfulness, gaiety, vivacity, joviality, good mood, good spirits
– nzunzu : big piece of wood / a lot of, lots of
– nzunzuba : heavy weight, great weight
– nzunzungu : kind of seed used in medicine to give a pleasant smell to the medicine
– nzu-nzu-nzu : onomatopoeia indicating dull hand clapping
– nzuwa : feeling of lack
– nzuwu : gravity, heaviness, weight
– nzuza / nsuza : libertine, debauched, lustful, lecherous, (male) prostitute, seducer, seductress
– nzuza / nzuzama : feeling of fever, pernicious fever, shiver, indisposition, feeling of sickness
– nzuza : prisoner of war, prey / without reason, without cause, without foundation
– nzuzu : morning feeling of sickness, heave, retching, morning vomiting / name of emetic potion
– ofele : free, offered
– onso : any, every, all / unifying factor, collecting factor
– oye ! : hurrah ! cheers !
– padi : morning, dawn
– pakapaka : helicopter, propeller / end of a bird wing / fruit called carambola or star fruit
– pakapaka : helicopter, fruit called carambola
– pake : packet, package, large muscle, bundle of banknotes, large amount of money
– palado : sorry, please
– palaki : disc, plate, plaque
– papila : paper, sheet of paper
– patangi (mapatangi) : crazy
– peki : forest with many tall trees
– pele : not, negation
– pembeni : close, proximity, vicinity, next door
– pene-pene : close (to), near
– pete-pete : softness
– pila-pila : sound of footsteps, stamping of feet on the ground
– pili : mourning clothes, mourning
– pinda : adultery, adulterer, adulterous man
– pitolo / pitoloyi / pituloya : oil, petroleum, kerosene, fuel
– posi / poketi : pocket
– potopoto : mud, puree
– puata (mapuata) : tinplate box / small powder keg
– pulusi : policeman, cop
– pusiele : dust
– pusu : rickshaw, cat
– pututu : ant hive that produces honey
– rumba : Congolese dance of Cuban origin
– sabala : sword, sabre, saber, cutlass / clover in a card game / Saturday, one week’s salary
– sabila (bisabila) : kind of cone or basket made of palm leaves
– sabu : bank, shore, port
– sabuka (masabuka) : cap, top, cork, peg, plug, bung, stopper / funnel
– sabuku (masabuku) : cap, top, cork, peg, plug, bung, stopper
– safeti : security
– sakata : bitterness, sourness
– sakaya (masakaya) : lightness
– saki : joy, vivacity
– sakombi : measure used for the sale of foods in grain or powder form
– sakuba : stumble, obstacle on which we stumble, ricochet, knock, bump, misstep / opportunity
– sala (masala) : first rain / tuft of herbs / top, crown / plume, tuft, panache, aigrette, crest, horn
– sala (masala) : inheritance, heritage / thing / species of bean
– salamu : greeting
– sala-sala : hard work
– salite : dirt
– salongo : community service
– salu (masalu) : workshop / place where tools are stored / sugar cane plant
– samba : type of dance / razor / net / species of green snake
– sambanu : six
– sambu : path, road / side, direction / junction, fork, crossroads, bend, curve / half
– sampuka : contagion
– samu (masamu) : cap, cork, stopper
– sanduku : chest, case, crate, trunk, box, coffin
– sanga (masanga) : basin, pond / cloud, storm cloud, swarm / cabin of greenery
– sangi (masangi) : forest, wood / mixture
– sangikila (masangikila) : shoot, offshoot, sucker
– sansa : greatness / providence, respect
– sansu (masansu) : tradition, legacy, what is transmitted from one to another / festive food
– sante : health
– santima : pleasure, enjoyment, feeling
– santinele : sentry, supervisor, guard, attendant
– sanza (masanza) : bird nest, aviary / large mouth
– sanza : attic, storeroom
– sanza / sanzangu : house without a partition wall
– sanza-sanza : longing to see, desire to touch everything / instability, lack of application
– sanza-sanza : uproar, din, racket, hubbub
– sanzela : village built at the alignment / market, market square, market place
– sanzu : liberality, generosity, mania to give everything at the risk of ruining oneself
– sasa : old house, tumbledown cottage, hovel
– sasila (masasila) : shoot, sprout, sucker
– sasu (masasu) : cavity, hollow under the roots / lodging, form, lair, den
– sasu / sazu : agility, speed
– sasuka : relief, softening or soothing of pain / improvement, convalescence
– sata (masata) : acidity, sourness, bitterness, tartness of a fruit / stupidity, unreasonableness
– sata : bitterness, sourness, acidity
– savu / sawu (masavu / masawu) : tale, reading
– savu (masavu) : generosity, prodigality
– sawu : landing stage, landing runway, airstrip / place where we cross by ferry, fordable place
– sawula : hatred, contempt, disdain, low esteem, lack of respect
– saya : earthenware pot, clay pot
– seba (maseba) : noise, crash, uproar, din / gossip, irresistible desire to chat
– sebene : musical sequence performed by the lead guitarist to make people dance
– sefi / sevi (masefi /masevi) : species of mussel, shell, mussel scale / snail shell
– seke (maseke) : leftover palm wine in a calabash, palm wine drunk by the suitor
– seke (maseke) / nseke : dry country, dry region, dry area, dry land
– sekele : secret
– seko : perpetuity, eternity, for life
– seko-seko : changing mood, changeableness, inconstancy, fickleness
– selembawu : female energy
– sembo (masembo) : reproach, reprimand, scolding
– sengi : white sand, sandbar, sandbank, gravel / species of small bird / species of small fish
– sense / sesa (masense / masesa) : sprouted grain, peanut spore
– sensebele : surface area
– setimana : week
– seve (maseve) : feast, meal / earthenware knob / kind of shell
– siamanu : firmness, strength, solidity, resistance, balance, safety
– siamininu : immolation, self-immolation
– siatata : obstinacy, stubbornness / interjection expressing contempt or insult
– siedi (masiedi) : place where palm nuts are broken / dizziness / drunkenness / glitch, kernel
– siedi / sieli : darling
– siefi (basiefi) : chef, chief, leader
– siefu (masiefu) : chef, chief, leader
– sigaleti : cigarette
– siki (masiki) : author / horn / foot, hoof / shoehorn
– siki : article
– sikola / sikulu : school
– siku (masiku) : kind of drum that is narrower at one of the ends / kind of fabric
– silikoti : skipping rope game, jumping rope game
– simba-simba : commotion
– simu : dry land / shore, opposite bank
– sina (masina) : root, foot, attachment, base, foundation, founder, origin, source, beginning
– sina (masina) : dregs, lees
– sina / kisina / busina : wealth, abundance / large deposit / capital, fortune
– sindangadi : Senegalese
– sindima : cinema
– singu (masingu) : spell, charm, fascination / astonishment exclamation
– sinsi (masinsi) : situation, state, condition, family, kinship / foot, root, origin, cause, reason
– sinsu : sign, mark,symbol
– sinzidi : surveillance, supervision
– sivi (masivi) : miracle
– soda : soldier, sweetened soft drink
– sodati / sodi (masodati / masodi) : soldier
– sofele : driver, car driver
– soka (masoka) : woman’s breast / term of tenderness of a married woman / wife
– sokomuntu : humanoid monster, big ape
– sokoto : military uniform
– sole : clearing / first cultivation on deforested land
– solo : musical sequence performed by the leading guitarist
– somba (masomba) : ball to play / small bunch, small bundle, sheaf of herbs
– somele : unemployed person
– sona (bisona / masona) : letter, writing, signature, printing character / writings
– songi-songi : slander, indiscretion, snooping, telephone speaker
– songo (masongo) : luck, good luck, fortune, success, prosperity / lucky fetish, lucky charm
– songo / nsongo : copper
– sono (bisono / masono) : letter, printing character, writings / mark, stain, sign of honour
– sosiete : company, firm
– suapanti : scoundrel
– sudi : South
– sukuse : Congolese dance created in the 1960s
– sumba (masumba) : species, kind, genus, nature, race / category, manner
– sumba (masumba) : crowd, multitude, troop, band, gang, army, legion
– sundi / nsundi : smallness, small size / animal that has not yet given birth / kid / virgin
– sunga-sunga : care, attention, precaution, concern, worry
– sungi (masungi) : stain, mark, blemish, blob, blot
– sunzi / sunsi : pile, heap
– sunzi (tsunzi) : debt, request, demand, requirement, pretension / rat
– sunzungulu : expression to designate something that happens suddenly
– sunzungulu : that which is magnificent, majestic, pretty, beautiful / child born well built
– susi : dirt, garbage, rubbish / stain, uncleanliness
– suwa (masuwa) : boat, small craft, canoe, vessel, ship
– suza / tsuza : dirtiness, filthiness, dirt, filth
– tabanga (matabanga) : marsh, swamp
– tadi : stone, electric battery, slate
– tala : branch, bough
– talanta : divine spark, aura, karma, karman
– talatona (matalatona) : docility, ease of learning
– tama (ntama) : distance
– tamba (matamba) : test, trial / communication concerning the illness or accident of a relative
– tambala (matambala) : mud, mire, silt, clay in water or on a path
– tambala : double cylindrical drum / very long or very high gong at a bell / tambourine
– tambalala : cry of appeal
– tampi (matampi) : pond, basin, reservoir
– tandu : era, century / savannah, empty plain
– tandu / tandu-tandu : thinness, skinniness
– tanga (matanga) : remains, debris, residue, wreckage / part of something, half-filled container
– tanu : five
– tapale : disorder, confusion, hubbub, boisterous, unruly, undisciplined, outlaw
– tata : father, sir
– tatu : three
– tayele : tailor, couturier, dressmaker
– tedituadi : territory
– telasie : gutter
– tembele : stamp
– tembo (matembo) : opening, round mouthpiece, opening of a barrel or a drum
– temo (bitemo / zitemo) : witness
– temue (batemue) : witness
– tenda (matenda) : cannon / species of grass
– tende (matende) : sprout, sucker, shoot / young tree / cannon
– tenta (matenta) : hilltop / hill, small mountain, mound
– tenta / tenti (matenta / matenti) : tent, cabin, hut, cottage
– tezi : measurement unit
– tibi / tifi : fertilizer, manure
– tibu (matibu) : resistance to heeding advice, reluctance to follow instruction
– tibula : joke, jest, mockery
– tidi (matidi) : leafy plant, plant whose leaves are eaten / dead fish that floats
– tidi / ditidi / butidi : unwillingness to confess something / disgust, displeasure / lack of libido
– tidibinadi / tidibinale : court
– tieno : will, testament, posthumous message, recommendation
– tietie (matietie) : joke, taunt
– tietie : onomatopoeia of the cracking of sth, the breaking of sth or the din produced by sth
– tietie-tietie : sound of a herd on the move / noise, din, clamour, children’s shouts
– tietula (matietula / bitietula) : jest, joke, playful mood
– tifu : dignity, high status / obesity, children stoutness
– tika (matika) : piece, part of
– tike : ticket
– tile-langi : languorous kiss with tongue
– tingu (matingu) : habit of being insubordinate, disobedience, bravado, insolence, impertinence
– tinta (matinta) : ink, colour
– tiola : stupidity, ignorance, clumsy heaviness, mocking mood, willingness to mystify
– tiya : fire, heat
– toko : young man, husband, companion
– tola (matola) : good look, pleasant appearance / prettiness, beauty
– tolo (matolo) : half / day, daytime / thickness, corpulence, stoutness, fattening / sheet metal
– tolo / tulu (tutolo/ tutulu / matolo / matulu) : short nap, sleep / sleep time
– tolongo (matolongo) : finely decorated large crate in which a chef hides his treasures
– tombe : darkness, gloom
– tombo (ntombo) : strong sunlight / rain / shoot
– tombula-buaka : second-hand clothing, used clothing
– tondo : mystical symbol of thanks
– tono : barrel, cask
– tonono : beginning, start / chicken louse
– tonta : suffering, pain
– tonti (matonti) : drop
– tonzi : drop / sleep, sleep illness
– tsheleka : really
– tshipoyi / kipoyi : sedan chair, stretcher
– tshobo : passage of the ball between the opponent’s legs
– tsume : kick with the tip of the foot
– tuba-tuba : gossip, slander
– tuka : countercurrent / debt, claim
– tuku : beginning, start, cause, origin, source, occasion, reason, motive / accident, misfortune
– tuku : teenager / something that has not finished growing / down, feather growing
– tukudu slave
– tulendo : power
– tuluka (matuluka) : maturity, age of marriage
– tuluka-tuluka : great hunger
– tuma : clay / liver
– tumba : crazy, madman, big beast
– tumbala (matumbala) : tomb, burial mound
– tumbalala : girl, young woman
– tumbi (matumbi) : abandoned house, mortuary house / heap of grass covered with earth
– tumbudulu : punishment
– tumfukula (matumfukula) : leaf used as a spoon
– tunda (matunda) : celebrity, illustration / who is notorious, who is known everywhere
– tuntulu : hole, big den
– tunzi / tunzia (matunzi / matunzia) : small cloud full of rain, very small cloud
– tunzima (matunzima) : torrent, stream / waterfall, cataract
– tusevo / tusego : laugh, sneer, snigger
– tutangu : calculation, calculus, arithmetic
– tuti (matuti) : cloud / crowd, mass / ring, roundness, circle, round mark on the skin
– tuvi : excrement, shit
– tuza : bullet, cartridge
– vambu / gambu : bifurcation, crossing, branching / crossroad, shortcut
– vanda (mavanda) : branching, branch, twig / fish hook, hook, barbed wire
– vangu (mavangu) : action, act
– vania (mavania) : bragging, boastfulness, ostentation, boasting
– vanza (mavanza) : bragging
– vata / gata : village
– vedila / velela : cleanliness, clarity, transparency, purity, holiness
– velama : desire, wish, hope
– velela / vedila : purity attribute
– velele : purity, holiness / lightness
– velele-velele : skill, finesse, subtlety, common sense
– velo : bicycle
– vema : discipline, application, assiduity, regular attendance, perseverance, enthusiasm, zeal
– vemba : blessing / raft
– vene (mavene) : nudity
– venene (mavenene) : pride, arrogance
– veta / geta : hunting
– vezo (mavezo) : litre, liter
– vilu-vilu : changing mood, fickleness, changeableness, inconstancy, variability, instability
– vilu-vilu : hypocrisy, tartufery, deception, falsehood, perfidy
– vinda (mavinda) : selvedge, selvage, edge / hem, sewn edge on a fabric
– vinga : residence, home
– vingala (zivingala) : cane
– vinia : flow, outflow / wine
– vinyi : health
– vinzi : field, cultivated land, countryside / valley where we cultivate, steppe where we plant
– vita (bivita, mavita) : war, struggle, battle, fight, combat
– viti (maviti) : bad manners
– vitu (mavitu) : door, gate, portal, entrance, entry, doorway, threshold
– vitu (mavitu) : path, trail, track of passage of an animal through the tall grass
– vitua : mania
– viva (maviva) : stick, switch, rod, cane
– vizavi : vis-à-vis, opposite, facing
– viziku-viziku : noise produced by a whisper
– voba /vobe (mavoba / mavobe) : laziness, idleness, indolence
– vobe : size attribute
– vobo (mavobo) : hole, cavity produced by trampling or by a blow
– vobo-vobo (mavobo-vobo) : state of something that is full of holes, not waterproof, permeable
– vobo-vobo : tendency to chatter, gossip, report, repeat what should not be known
– vodi-vodi : whistling produced with the hand, a horn, a pipe, a reed pipe or other object
– vofo (mavofo) : stupidity / tranquility / pepper
– voka : necropolis, cemetery
– vola : steering wheel
– voma (mavoma) : rattle / hubbub, brouhaha / hammer
– vombo (mavombo) : idiot, fool, simpleton, madman, madwoman
– vombolo (mavombolo) : plank, board, door made of a single board
– vonga : fatness, stoutness, overweight, obesity, corpulence, thickness / trap / lake
– vongo : place away, place next to / place of deliberation, place of the one who governs
– vongo (mavongo) : elevation, erection, roughness, irregularity, curvature, hump, swelling
– vonza (bivonza) : great danger, peril
– vonza : fear, fright
– vua : nine
– vuadi (mavuadi) : sheaf, bundle of herbs, bunch of herbs
– vuakania (mavuakania) : thorn tree
– vuanga-vuanga : disorder, confusion, chaos / public domain, property belonging to everyone
– vuangi (mavuangi) : clump of bushes, brushwood, thicket / public, crowd, band, troop
– vuayazi : travel
– vuazi (mavuazi) : owner, possessor
– vueba (mavueba) : lead
– vuela : house or temple of the fetish, place of care for the sick or women in childbirth
– vuela (mavuela) : hand full of uncrushed peanuts
– vuila : wealth, abundance
– vuina / vuinia : thirst / solicitude
– vuka : thunderstorm, storm
– vuku (mavuku) : slowness, laziness, inertia, impediment, delay / echo / eaves
– vuku-vuku : dust, dirt, grime / seduction
– vukumunu : incantation
– vula (mavula) : town
– vulu-vulu : obesity, size, massiveness / precocious person
– vumi : respect, deference, veneration, respectful fear / fright, shyness, embarrassment
– vunda / wunda (bavunda / bawunda) : elder of the family, dean of the family
– vunda (mavunda) : which has stopped growing, which does not develop, which is not vigorous
– vunda (mavunda) : hamlet, suburb / thickness of plants
– vundi (mavundi) : smallness, small hen that has not reached its growth
– vundu (mavundu) : spot / line on the coat of an antelope
– vundula : first rain of the season
– vunguna : perdition
– vunia-vunia : pride / smile on the lips, desire to laugh
– vuva : young girl, maiden / edge, shore / cul-de-sac, cove
– vuvu : hope, wish
– vuvuka (mavuvuka) : lout, yob, person who mixes up everything any way
– vuvulu : lightness / weakness, lack of strength / clarity
– vuya-vuya : disorder, confusion, disarray
– wafua (bafua) : dead, deceased
– wakasa : poison / species of tree
– walakasa (mawalakasa) : rustling, quivering, frou-frou
– walakazi : maternal tenderness, maternal feeling, benevolence, charity
– walakazi : bad smell, milk smell, drool smell
– wala-wala (mawala-wala) : large opening
– waleza / wandele : soft and subdued sun
– wamba (mawamba) : slave, serf
– wamoyo (bamoyo) : alive
– wara : West African, Senegalese, Malian
– wasa-wasa : beating with a pole
– wasi-wasi : good health
– wasu (mawasu) : court fees, lawyer’s fees, attorney’s fees / lighter, box of matches
– wawu : now / this one, that one
– waya : not at all, lie, bluff
– wayaku : your neighbour
– wazinga (bazinga) : alive
– wengele / wengo (mawengele / mawengo) : hole
– wenze : small market
– widi : deceased, late / heard
– wisi : darkness, dusk, twilight / fog, mist
– wisu : energy
– wola : hour, time, gold
– wolo : gold
– wolomani (biwolomani) : casket, case
– wonga : fear, terror, fright, panic
– wuma : place, spot, site, area
– wumpulu (mawumpulu) : cavity in a tree trunk, underground cavity, ventilation hole
– wundu : hole, opening, hole in a cloth, mouse hole, smallpox scar
– wunga (mawunga) : cave, mine
– wunge (mawunge) : fine rain
– wungu : noise
– wunkete : craft industry
– wunu : today
– wuwu / gugu : stripped branch of the raffia palm, bamboo cane
– ya : four / state of what is cooked
– ya / via (maya / mavia) : agricultural field, plot of land, countryside, nursery
– ya : courtesy title preceding the name of an older brother or sister
– yaba (mayaba) : wide-mouthed large mug / marsh, swamp
– yabala (mayabala) : mud, muddy location
– yabata (mayabata) : swamp, marsh, spongy ground
– yaba-yaba : who works badly / who treats harshly / desire to gossip / bad propensity
– yakala : male person, male
– yaki-yaki : agility, lightness, quickness, liveliness
– yalangana (mayalangana) : large liquid area, area, extent
– yala-yala : desire to chatter, desire to talk unnecessarily / shooting pain
– yamu : state of what is warm, state of what has been immersed in hot water
– yanga (mayanga) : pond, lake, marsh
– yangala (mayangala) : plain, plateau, large field, farm / vitality, boast, ostentation, show
– yanga-yanga : which runs and which jumps / vitality, enthusiasm
– yangi (mayangi) : rejoicing, joy, satisfaction, bliss, felicity, happiness, rapture, ecstasy, delight
– yangi : irritation, annoying character, impertinence of animals / holiness, salvation
– yangidi-yangidi : vivacity, liveliness, violence, impatience, haste
– yangidi-yangidi : beginning of madness / neglect, changing mood
– yaninga : suffocation, stifling heat, midday heat
– yanke : kaïd, little thug
– yanza : pride
– yaya (bayaya) : big brother, big sister, elder, person older than oneself
– yaya (bayaya) : courtesy title given to a female person
– yaya (mayaya) : lie, boasting, bragging / something that everyone talks about
– yaya : celebrity
– yayama (mayayama) : a musical instrument, kind of drum
– yebe-yebe : youth, freshness, good health, valour, courage, strength
– yeko (mayeko) : side of a mountain, side of a house / kind of large foot ring
– yelelo (mayelelo) : hospital, clinic
– yelo-yelo : attitude consisting in looking around, attitude of staying on guard, stand-by attitude
– yemba : mortuary vigil place / cabin, shelter, gatehouse / veranda, vestibule, portico / hat ledge
– yemba : place where clan men gather in the evening to eat and talk around the fire
– yembo : ecstasy / lightning without thunder / plume, panache, tuft
– yendolo (mayendolo) : path, trail, track
– yenga (mayenga) : ravine, precipice, abyss, chasm / scorched earth, reddish clay
– yenge : peace, tranquility, peacefulness, joy, cheerfulness, friendship, sympathy, agreement
– yengele : habit of wanting to imitate others or to resemble them / repugnance
– yengisila / yengosolo : small slit, small crack, small crevice, small fissure
– yengo (mayengo) : festive day, public holiday, festival, joy, happiness / joke, jest / burnt peat
– yengo-yengo : desire to cry, grief, funeral tears, mourning tears, lamentation / worry, anxiety
– yeyila : ignorant person, stupid person
– yimbu / yimbua : poison
– yimita : conception
– yinda (mayinda) : trap, pitfall / drying rack for corpses / kind of dance
– yindila : idiot, silly, simple / large quantity of herbs, herbs in abundance
– yindu : concern, reflection, thought / venerable aspect, respectability, kindness, dignity
– yingi : plural, abundant, much
– yinza : territory, country, terrain, ground
– yinza (mayinza) : cultivated field, sown field / farm, rural property, countryside
– yombe : dance in a circle
– yombe : furnace
– yondolo : abundance of dew
– yongolo (mayongolo) : what is pure, clean / bell / soldier / giant
– yono (mayono) : very fragile object / rot, decay, decomposition / yesterday, the day before
– yoo (mayoo) : shop, workshop
– yonzi-yonzi : thinness, skinniness
– yowela / yowelelo (mayowela / mayowelelo) : bath, bathing place, bathtub
– yowo (mayowo) : house where circumcision is performed
– yudi : pile, quantity of / what has just been piled up, what has just been raised very high
– yudika (mayudika) : heap, warehouse, reserve, fund
– yudukua (mayudukua) : pile, heap / provision, reserve
– yukila (mayukila) : noise, din, uproar / tumult, disorder
– yuku-yuku / yukutu-yukutu : intense heat, feverish heat / fever
– yuma : coward, weak person, wimp
– yuma : state of what is dry
– yunga (mayunga) : payment for / bad noise / language of proverbs
– yunga / kiyunga : cassock, coat, boubou, overcoat
– yunga (mayunga) : scarabée unicorne, scarabée métallique et peint
– yunga (mayunga): unicorn beetle, metallic and painted beetle
– yungilu (mayungilu) : bath
– yuni : June
– yuti (mayuti) : gathering, crowd, public, community
– yuti : view of all, broad daylight, public (square)
– yuwoni : superior
– zaba (mazaba) : silt, ooze, sludge, mud, mire, muddy place / kind of pineapple
– zadi (mazadi) : quantity, mass of something / attribute of magnitude, large quantity
– zakamu (mazakamu) : shake, tremor, trembling, quivering
– zaka-zaka (mazaka-zaka) : haste, great hurry, precipitation, negligence, uncontrolled zeal
– zaka-zaka : shaking, trembling, quivering / anxiety, agitation, restlessness, paralysis
– zala : nest / dump, rubbish dump, landfill, compost / heap, pile, hill
– zala (mazala) : something well filled, something very large
– zalala : working session of the healer or the fetishist
– zama (mazama) : tender love, favourite object
– zamani : German
– zamba : fringe, hoof, tuft, shawl / small loincloth / seeds that stick to clothes
– zamba (mazamba) : toilets, place reserved for droppings, place reserved for debris, manure
– zamba (mazamba) : large forest / burial place, cemetery / nest / poorly built house
– zandu : market
– zanga : lake, pond
– zangu (mazangu) : speed
– zangungu : extent, width
– zangu-zangu : ease to learn, speed to understand
– zayi : knowledge, learning, science
– zekita / zekitina / sekitina : who has a stomach ache, who has colic, who has cramps
– zelele : crowd, human tidal wave
– zenenge (mazenenge) : marsh, swamp
– zenga / yenga / benga : steep slope, cliff, ravine, precipice, abyss
– zenga (mazenga) : crazy, stupid, fool
– zengi (mazengi) : corner of the roof, part of the wall above the door, top, ridge, frontispiece
– zengo : altitude, exact height, low water, depth / high or low tone in music / tropic
– zengo : trajectory of a projectile, direction of a rifle / powder charge, powder measure
– zengo : stick cut and marked to serve as a measuring instrument, capacity measure
– zeniti : zenith
– zeza : laxity, obligingness, doubt / small basket
– zeze (mazeze) : smooth-tongued and clumsy woman, stupid person
– zia (mazia) : abyss, gulf, chasm / image reflected by a mirror, reflection, hazy image
– ziami : grave, tomb
– zieta-zieta : great haste, excess of activities / confusion, misdirection, indecision, perplexity
– ziezie : disorder, abstraction, maladjustment, confusion / madness, mental aberration
– ziezie-ziezie : disorder, untidiness, confusion, jumble
– zikopo : family of hearts at the card game
– ziku (maziku) : grimace / best age, middle age, age of vigour / honesty, self-respect
– zikua : fireplace, hearth around which the men of the clan gather to talk
– zikua : altar / church cell, parish / vegetable garden
– zimbabue / zimba : circular stone temple
– zimi : pregnancy
– zimola : alms
– zimua (mazimua) : withering
– zina : name, patronymic
– zindombe : family of spades at the card game
– zinselele : family of clubs at the card game
– zinsongi : family of tiles at the card game
– zioko (mazioko) : game
– ziozio : avarice, miserliness / eyelet, noose, snare
– zita : management centre, leadership, nucleus, core
– zitu : weight, load
– ziumbu (maziumbu) : poison
– zizi : face
– zoba : idiot, fool, stupid
– zoko (mazoko) : marshy place usually in the vicinity of a source of running water
– zole : two
– zomina (mazomina) : doctor’s fees
– zondo (zizondo) : small stream, brook
– zone : zone, area
– zonga (mazonga) : measurement, surveying
– zongi (mazongi) : height, something high, tower
– zongo (mazongo) : will, desire
– zonza (mazonza) : quarrel, disagreement, dispute
– zowa (mazowa) : stupidity, imbecility, idiocy, dementia, madness
– zu (mazu) : noise, cry, shout, uproar, din, detonation, rumour / voice, language, dialect
– zu : cemetery
– zuangi (mazuangi) : copse, bocage, grove, thicket
– zudi-zudi : vivacity, liveliness, vigour, ardour, indomitable character / wisdom, intelligence
– zudika (mazudika) : heap, pile
– zuka (bizuka / mazuka) : wedding gift / loan in money, interest on a loan
– zuku (mazuku) : fundamental principle, root, source, origin, base, foundation
– zula-zula : wickedness, meanness
– zulu : sky, high, above
– zumbua : cemetery
– zuna (mazuna) : pit
– zunga (mazunga) : discharged water / enclosure, hedgerow, fence, fenced garden / heap, pile
– zunga / kizunga : zone, sector, district, territory, region
– zuzi : judge
