Maasai
/ˈmɑː.saɪ/noun
A Nilotic people of Kenya and Tanzania who traditionally speak the Maa language.
Did you know?Maasai is closely connected with Maa, the language spoken by the community; the exact historical development of the English form is not completely certain.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Maa
Maa
“The name of the language spoken by the Maasai and related communities.”
19th Century
Swahili/European usage
Maasai / Masai
“Recorded names for the East African pastoral people, with spelling varying among outside writers.”
Late 19th–Early 20th Century
English
Masai
“An English spelling widely used in colonial and ethnographic writing.”
20th Century
English
Maasai
“The now-common English form for the people and their cultural identity.”
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