Cubango
/kuːˈbæŋɡoʊ/noun
A Portuguese name for the Okavango River in southwestern Africa, especially in Angola and Namibia.
Did you know?Cubango is the Portuguese form associated with the Okavango River, whose waters famously disappear into the inland Okavango Delta rather than reaching the sea.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Bantu languages
Kavango
“A regional name associated with the Kavango people and territory; the deeper linguistic analysis is not securely established.”
19th Century
Local usage
Okavango
“A local African name for the river and surrounding region; its exact internal derivation remains debated.”
19th Century
Portuguese
Cubango
“Portuguese geographical form used for the river known in English as the Okavango.”
Late 19th–20th Century
English
Okavango
“The principal English form for the river and its inland delta.”
Modern English
English
Cubango
“A historical or Portuguese-derived alternative name for the Okavango River, particularly in Angolan contexts.”
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