sjambok
/ˈʃæmbɒk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.08 in modern English
22
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A stout whip, especially made of rhinoceros or hippopotamus hide.
Example Sentences
- "He learnt that he was a slave, in spite of all the petty airs he might assume, a slave shackled to a yoke, to be scolded when he lagged, flogged when he rebelled with the sjambok of the modern driver, Threat of the Sack."
- "Foppl stood holding a sjambok or cattle whip of giraffe hide, tapping the handle against his leg in a steady, syncopated figure."
- "Several accusations had been brought in against her and every time she'd denied them she had been beaten with a sjambok."
- "If dialogue is ever to have a chance, South Africans must find a way to turn away from violence in all its forms — the brutal violence of the sjambok"
- "Police arrested almost 40 locals yesterday after a crowd took part in illegal marches and refused to disperse. The locals were armed with sticks, sjamboks and other weapons."
Etymology
From Afrikaans sjambok, from Dutch sjambok, from Javanese cambuk, and as borrowed in Malay: modern Indonesian and Malay, ultimately from Persian چابک (čâbok). Originally spelt in the colonial Dutch transliteration tscamboek. The term was imported by VOC officials, Dutch merchants, the Maardijkers (Maluku (Moluccan) freemen and burghers), and Inlanders (Javanese and other modern Indonesian slaves and political exiles expelled to Dutch South Africa). Doublet of chabuk.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: sjambok, cambuk, چابک