The Meaning of the Word Mzungu - Maana ya Mzungu

Kuna mzungu aliniuliza maana ya neno mzungu. Nikamwambia haihusiani kabisa na rangi bali inatokana na wale weupe wa kwanza waliofika Afrika na hawakujua wanakwenda wapi, hivyo walikuwa wanazunguka ovyo!  Kuna stori nilisimuliwa nikiwa mdogo, kuna kundi la wazungu walifika kijijini. Walikaribishwa vizuri na Chifu wakaondoka.  Baada ya wiki mbili wazungu hao hao wakarudi pale kijijini.  Chikfu kauliza, "Jamani, hao si ndo tuliwaaga majuzi!" Mzungu kashangaa hakufika popote bali anatembea katika mduara!

Mzungu From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mzungu (pronounced [m̩ˈzuŋɡu]) is the southern, central and eastern African term for a person of foreign descent. Literally translated it means "someone who roams around aimlessly" or "aimless wanderer" (from the Swahili words zungu, zunguzungu, zunguka, zungusha, mzungukaji, meaning to go round and round; from Ganda okuzunga which means to wander aimlessly). The term was first used by natives of East Africa to describe European explorers in the 18th century.[citation needed] It is now commonly used in most Bantu languages of East, Central and Southern Africa, especially in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.

In Swahili, the plural form of mzungu is wazungu.[1][2][3] The possessive kizungu (or chizungu) translated literally means "of the aimless wanderers". It has now come to mean "language of the aimless wanderers" and more commonly English, as it is the language most often used by Wazungu in East Africa. However it can be used generally for any European language. Wachizungu, Bachizungu, etc. – literally "things of the aimless wanderers" – have come to mean the Western culture, cuisine and lifestyle.

In Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, European people are also known as rutuku which means "red" (after their skin color). The word English has been loaned into Bantu languages as kiingereza in Swahili, chingeleshi in Bemba or lungereza in Ganda.