mzee

noun

mzee

noun

UK /(ə)mˈzeɪ/

Etymology Borrowed from Swahili mzee.

1

Africa, East An elder (old person).

Kenyatta was recognized at the time of his death in mid-1978 as Mzee, "the wise old one," not only by his own people but by a wide array of world leaders.1993, Funk & Wagnalls Corporation, Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, volume 15, page 233:
...every President since Teddy Roosevelt saw Africa in the faces of her mzees, in their English suits or tribal robes...2003, Ward S Just, The American Ambassador:

2 more examples

It is difficult to be both and the older mzees resent the irregularity of the position.2005, Ernest Hemingway, Robert William Lewis, Under Kilimanjaro:
...we arranged an impromptu interview with this reluctant and less than candid local mzee, who lived near the Tsavo boundary.2006, Edward I Steinhart, Black poachers, white hunters: a social history of hunting in colonial Kenya:

Synonyms: senior, senior citizen

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.