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kraal

kraal

1 9.9
An enclosed area where people keep cattle or live in huts in southern Africa
  • noun
  • /krɑl/
  • South African
: kraal
  • After the sun set, the animals returned to the safety of the kraal for the night.
  • cattle kraal

Examples

  • The turtles were roped around the flipper, pulled out of the kraal, usually by a swimmer, and assembled on the dock for live shipment or canning.

    Academic text (1994)
  • New homes have to be found; new kraals built; new lands stumped and fenced, and crops carted to these new homes.

    Academic text (2005)
  • - We have just come from his kraal, sir.

  • I want that line of boxes across here, from the cattle kraal to the outside perimeter.

  • The only reports of enemy activity come from the direction of the Royal Kraal, at Ulundi.

  • From Angola to the little kraal on the other side of the Zambezi, they came.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • A large party of Zulus has been sighted in direction the King's Kraal.

  • No special equipment was necessary, and, like net-caught turtles, they could be held alive in kraals while awaiting sale.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Shaka was assisted by a staff of chiefs who surrounded him in the royal kraal (a territorial dwelling unit with the house of the king located at the center).

    Academic text (1999)
  • Many even went from kraal to kraal hawking tobacco, mealies, mats, paraffin, skin hides, chickens, and eggs.

    Academic text (2005)

Synonyms

manyatta
vskraal
  • UK
1 9.9

A group of simple huts where herders like the Maasai live temporarily with their cattle

is the southern African form for similar livestock enclosures or hut villages
drylot
vskraal
  • Jargon
1 8.2

An outdoor area where farmers keep and feed animals when they cannot graze

is a traditional village or livestock enclosure that may allow grazing
douar
vskraal
  • UK
1 9.9

A small village or camp in North Africa

is the southern African equivalent covering enclosures or hut villages
zareba
vskraal
  • UK
1 9.9

A fence made of thorn bushes that protects people or animals

is a broader traditional enclosure or village not limited to thorn barriers

How Big

village
∞ 1.0
compound
  • UK
238 6.0
kraal
  • South African
1 9.9
corral
  • US
16 5.3
pen
56 3.5

Surface Forms

kraal singular
kraals plural

Etymology

Kraal comes from an old Afrikaans/Dutch word for a small 'enclosure' for animals, which itself comes from Portuguese curral meaning 'pen'. It is like the English corral, so a kraal is a fenced place where people kept cattle or lived in huts for safety.