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Hottentot

[ hot-n-tot ]

noun



Hottentot

/ ˈhɒtənˌtɒt /

noun

  1. -tot-tots a former name for Khoikhoi
  2. any of the languages of this people, belonging to the Khoisan family
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Usage

When referring to the people the accepted word nowadays is Khoikhoi . Hottentot continues to be used for some animal and plant names, as in Hottentot fig
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Other Words From

  • Hotten·totic adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of Hottentot1

1670–80; < Afrikaans; origin uncertain
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Word History and Origins

Origin of Hottentot1

C17: from Afrikaans, of uncertain origin
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Example Sentences

Some scorpions, birds, fishes and flowers are known by the label Hottentot.

Some scorpions, birds, fishes and flowers are known by the label Hottentot, a term of abuse for Indigenous Khoikhoi people in southern Africa.

Displays of malformations were obviously often strikingly offensive, none more so than the “Hottentot Venus.”

She will have to decide now if she will become a Hottentot Venus or an ethnic version of a white ho.

Yet its cranial capacity is far above that of the highest apes, and is assimilated with that of Hottentot and Polynesian skulls.

Finally, the Hottentot mission was transferred to Bethelsdorp, where steady progress was made.

The face nearly resembled that of a Hottentot, but the body was covered all over with a sort of grey wool.

Then the Hottentot saw his chance, and leaving his hiding place he ran like lightning to his home, which was only a mile distant.

To threaten a disobedient servant with the jambok—be he Hottentot, Fingo, or Caffre—is to bring him back to kneeling obeisance.

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hot-temperedHottentot fig