Date
Type Country
Usage Tswana, English, Shona, German, French, Italian, Catalan, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian
Pronounced Pron. baht-SWAHN-ə(English) baw-TSWA-na(German) BAW-TSWA-NA(French) boot-soo-A-nə(Catalan) bawt-SVA-na(Dutch) baw-TSFA-na(Polish) BO-tsva-naw(Hungarian)
Meaning & History
Means "place of the Tswana people" in the Tswana language, from the locative prefix bo- combined with the name of Tswana people, itself of uncertain origin, possibly from tswa "to go out" or tshwana "to resemble". This is the name of a country in Southern Africa. During the British colonial period the region was called Bechuanaland, which was more accurately rendered as Botswana when the country achieved independence in 1966.