manyatta

English

A manyatta

Etymology

Borrowed from Maasai manyatta.

Noun

manyatta (plural manyattas)

1. (East Africa) A Masai or Samburu settlement or compound, often temporary, established by a family or clan, or as an encampment of young warriors. [from 20th c.]
   • 1901, Sidney Langford Hinde, The Last of the Masai:

     The Masai tribes, or sections of tribes, haunt certain districts. Every section has usually some three favourite districts, in each of which is a village called a manyatta.

   • 2012, Jackson Ntirkana, Wilson Meikuaya, The Last Maasai Warriors: An Autobiography:

     All of the inhabitants worked together for two full moon cycles to build their manyattas, bomas for the cows and a fence that spanned the length of two big football pitches to protect everyone from the lions.

See also

• enkang