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# indaba

«indaba» in Mova's school dictionary: **An important meeting or conference to discuss something…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (an indaba, indabas)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (South Africa) An important meeting or conference to discuss something, originally a gathering of Zulu or Xhosa people. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indaba/#m1)

2) (Scouts) A large meeting of Scout leaders. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indaba/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

A word from the Zulu and Xhosa languages, used in South African English and in Kipling's Just So Stories for a big gathering or talk. Today it is used for conferences and meetings in South Africa and in the Scout movement.

### examples

- The chiefs held an indaba to settle the dispute. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indaba/#x1)
- The Scout leaders met at an international indaba. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indaba/#x2)
- The animals gathered for a great indaba. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indaba/#x3)
- The government called an indaba on water shortages. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indaba/#x4)
- Everyone had a say at the indaba. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indaba/#x5)
- In South Africa «indaba» can also mean «my business»: «That's your indaba!» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indaba/#x6)

### note

From Zulu «indaba» (matter, business, talk). Countable: an indaba, indabas. Mainly South African English.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «indaba» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indaba/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.