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Meaning of "impundulu" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD IMPUNDULU

From Nguni mpundulu.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF IMPUNDULU

impundulu  [ɪmˈpʊnˌdʊlʊ] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF IMPUNDULU

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Impundulu is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES IMPUNDULU MEAN IN ENGLISH?

impundulu

Lightning bird

The lightning bird or impundulu or thekwane is a mythological creature in the folklore of the tribes of South Africa including the Pondo, the Zulu and the Xhosa. The impundulu takes the form of a black and white bird, the size of a human, which is said to summon thunder and lightning with its wings and talons. It is a vampiric creature associated with witchcraft, often the servant or familiar of a witch or witch doctor, which attacks the witch's enemies. It is said to have an insatiable appetite for blood. Sometimes it takes the form of a beautiful young man who seduces women.

Definition of impundulu in the English dictionary

The definition of impundulu in the dictionary is a mythical bird associated with witchcraft, frequently manifested as the secretary bird.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE IMPUNDULU

impulse buy
impulse buyer
impulse buying
impulse purchase
impulse turbine
impulsion
impulsive
impulsively
impulsiveness
impulsivity
impunities
impunity
impure
impurely
impureness
impurities
impurity
impurple
imputability
imputable

WORDS THAT END LIKE IMPUNDULU

Bangweulu
Gazankulu
Honolulu
KwaZulu
Lake Bangweulu
lulu
Oulu
pulu
sulu
ulu
voulu
Zulu

Synonyms and antonyms of impundulu in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «impundulu» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF IMPUNDULU

Find out the translation of impundulu to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of impundulu from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «impundulu» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

impundulu
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

impundulu
570 millions of speakers

English

impundulu
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

impundulu
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

impundulu
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

impundulu
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

impundulu
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

impundulu
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

impundulu
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Impundulu
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

impundulu
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

impundulu
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

impundulu
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Impundulu
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

impundulu
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

அதுவே,
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

जांभई
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

impundulu
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

impundulu
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

impundulu
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

impundulu
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

impundulu
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

impundulu
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

impundulu
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

impundulu
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

impundulu
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of impundulu

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «IMPUNDULU»

The term «impundulu» is barely ever used and occupies the 198.497 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Unused
7
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «impundulu» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of impundulu
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «impundulu».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «IMPUNDULU» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «impundulu» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «impundulu» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about impundulu

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «IMPUNDULU»

Discover the use of impundulu in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to impundulu and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
THEY BITE
When not in bird form, the Impundulu transforms into a man or woman of great beauty and unnatural charisma who seduces humans and feasts on their blood. Its appetite for hot blood is unquenchable, and if the witch did not exert control over ...
Jonathan Maberry, David F. Kramer, 2009
2
Blood of Dawn
The impundulu himself and the witch or witch doctor he serves. The second could be either male or female. We need to generate two sets of motives—one for each unsub. And we'll needtoproduce two profilesas well.” The chief nodded.
Tami Dane, 2012
3
Sorcery and Sovereignty: Taxation, Power, and Rebellion in ...
Anthropologist Monica Wilson in the 1930s wrote that “lightning is said to be a bird impundulu; forked lightning is its droppings, and thunder the beating of its wings”; and the bird was surprisingly American in its coloration: “The impundulu has ...
Sean Redding, 2006
4
Vampire Universe: The Dark World of Supernatural Beings That ...
Frightmaster Jonathan Maberry presents the creatures of our worst nightmares - ancient monstrosities from folklore and myth and recent atrocities torn from modern headlines.
Jonathan Maberry, 2006
5
Fantasy Art Expedition
... blood or spirits of the living you would find that vampiric creatures exist in every country on Earth. Here are just a few from around the globe... IMPUNDULU. – the Impundulu, or 'lightning bird', is known amongst the Pondo, the Zulu and the ...
‎2010
6
Black Cloud Rider
Her mind went back to the Impundulu theory. Was the story fact or fiction, she wondered. She recalled the last crime scene—the lack of prints at the scene, could the murders possibly be the work of the Impundulu? Duski had heard stories from ...
B. K. Knight, 2014
7
Vampire Legends and Myths
... to them a deadly disease known as malaria. In the eastern Cape region, a creature known as the impundulu figures largely in the myths and beliefs of southern African tribes, such as the Xhosa and Zulu. The word means “lightning bird,” and ...
Roxanne Hellman, Derek Hall, 2011
8
From Toussaint to Tupac: The Black International since the ...
This mindset also explains whyAfricans referred to the poll tax as impundulu, the common term for the destructive lightning storms that regularly killed people and livestock and burned homes. Tellingly, an alternate name for the poll tax was ...
Michael O. West, William G. Martin, Fanon Che Wilkins, 2009
9
"TB is not an easy thing": focused discussions on the stigma ...
According to one participant in this group there are still people in the rural areas who believe in the impundulu and would prefer to use traditional medicine. When asked what the impundulu looked like, the respondents explained that you ...
Valerie Møller, Ida Erstad, Dalindyebo Zani, 2006
10
African Mythology, A to Z
According to the Xhosa of South Africa, lightning was a bird—Impundulu or Intakezulu—the “bird of heaven.” When Impundulu beat its wings, thunder roared. Impundulu was regarded as the Supreme God's servant of death and was greatly  ...
Patricia Ann Lynch, Jeremy Roberts, 2010

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Impundulu [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/impundulu>. Apr 2024 ».
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