Uganda
/juːˈɡændə/noun
A country in East Africa.
Did you know?The name Uganda comes from the Swahili form of Buganda, the kingdom that dominated the region, and the prefix bu- in Bantu languages marks a country or land, so the name originally pointed to the land of the Ganda people.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Bantu
*ganda
“The Ganda people and their ethnic identity”
Precolonial period
Bantu
bu-ganda
“The land or country of the Ganda”
19th Century
Swahili
Uganda
“A Swahili rendering of Buganda, used by traders and outsiders”
19th Century
English
Uganda
“The colonial-era English name for the region and kingdom”
Modern English
English
Uganda
“The name of the East African nation”