Hottentot

[ hot-n-tot ]

/ ˈhɒt nˌtɒt /

noun

Khoikhoi.

Origin of Hottentot

1670–80; < Afrikaans; origin uncertain

OTHER WORDS FROM Hottentot

Hot·ten·tot·ic, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for hottentot

Displays of malformations were obviously often strikingly offensive, none more so than the “Hottentot Venus.”

We’re All Carnies Now: Why We Can’t Quit the Circus |Anthony Paletta |November 27, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Have you forgotten that the Hottentot himself told us that it was the Bushmen who buried him?

Hair-Breadth Escapes |H.C. Adams
A Hottentot would not have been guilty of this sort of barbarism.

American Notes |Rudyard Kipling
He spoke in the Kafir tongue, in which the Hottentot replied, and with which young Marais was partially acquainted.

The Settler and the Savage |R.M. Ballantyne

The Hottentot slept like a stone, and never feared for his own life and precious booty.

A Simpleton |Charles Reade
The Hottentot boys are the drivers of the yoke, having for an ornament in their caps splendid ostrich feathers.

Ten Years in India |W.J.D. Gould

British Dictionary definitions for hottentot

Hottentot

/ (ˈhɒtənˌtɒt) /

noun offensive

plural -tot or -tots a former name for Khoikhoi (def. 1)

any of the languages of this people, belonging to the Khoisan family

Word Origin for Hottentot

C17: from Afrikaans, of uncertain origin

usage for Hottentot

When referring to the people the accepted word nowadays is Khoikhoi . Hottentot continues to be used for some animal and plant names, as in Hottentot fig

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

Hottentot

noun

Origin of Hottentot

OTHER WORDS FROM Hottentot

Example sentences from the Web for hottentot

British Dictionary definitions for hottentot

noun offensive

Word Origin for Hottentot

usage for Hottentot