Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Twa

Twa

1 9.9
A person from a Central African forest community who lives by hunting and gathering
  • proper noun
: twa
  • Hutu, Tutsi and Twa
  • Tutsi and Twa

Examples

  • The Hutu had encountered the Twa upon their arrival, a small group currently comprising only 1 percent of the population.

    Academic text (1997)

  • The Twa people have rich traditions of hunting and gathering in the forests of Central Africa.

  • As a member of the Twa, she has deep knowledge of the forest and its resources.

  • The Twa are known for their unique cultural practices that reflect their long-standing connection to the land.

Synonyms

Batwa
vsTwa
1 9.9

A person from a native group in Central Africa who lives in the forest

has the same meaning but is another name for the same group

Surface Forms

Twa main

Etymology

Twa comes from local Bantu languages in Central Africa, where people used the name for groups who lived in and around the forest and hunted or gathered food, so it means 'forest people'. That's why today Twa is used to name those indigenous hunter-gatherer communities.