Maravi
/məˈrɑːvi/noun
A historical name for a Bantu-speaking kingdom, confederacy, and people in the region of present-day Malawi and neighboring areas.
Did you know?Portuguese chroniclers recorded the Maravi in the sixteenth century, while later tradition connects the name with fires or flames seen across the landscape.
Etymological Timeline
Before the 16th century
Bantu
Maravi
“An ethnonym and political name used by a Bantu-speaking population in southeastern Africa; the deeper derivation is uncertain.”
16th Century
Portuguese
Maravi
“Portuguese explorers and chroniclers recorded the name for a kingdom or confederacy in the region.”
17th–18th Centuries
European English
Maravi
“European geographical and historical writing continued using the name for the kingdom and its inhabitants.”
19th Century
English
Maravi
“English colonial and missionary sources used Maravi as a historical and ethnographic designation.”
Modern English
English
Maravi
“A historical proper noun referring to the Maravi polity, people, or cultural region.”