Searching for the African Ancestors: Words from the Bantu

Words from the Bantu

Figure 82. Words from the Bantu

The people who lived here used many words that were of Bantu origin. For example, they called baby chicks “biddies”—from the Bantu word “bidibidi”, which means small, yellow bird. They called okra and tomatoes “gumbo”—which is derived from a Bantu word for okra. They called peanuts “pindas”--the same word that the Kongo people use for peanuts.