Namaland
/ˈnɑːməˌlænd/noun
A historical geographical region of southwestern Africa associated with the Nama people, especially in present-day Namibia and South Africa.
Did you know?Namaland was a colonial-era geographical name, while the Nama themselves are a Khoekhoe-speaking people whose traditional territory crossed modern Namibia and South Africa.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Khoekhoe
Nama
“The ethnonym used for the Nama people; its deeper internal etymology is not securely established.”
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic
*landą
“Land, territory, or cultivated ground.”
Old English
Old English
land
“Land, ground, country, or territory.”
19th Century
German/English
Namaland
“A regional name formed from Nama plus land, referring to the territory inhabited by the Nama.”
Modern English
English
Namaland
“A historical or geographic name for Nama-inhabited areas of southwestern Africa.”