Popobawa - Meaning of The Name

Meaning of The Name

Popobawa is a Swahili name which translates literally as "bat-wing" (from Swahili popo, "bat", and bawa, "wing"). This name is said to have originated as a description of the dark shadow cast by the spirit when it attacks at night: it does not refer to the actual form of the spirit, which is liable to change. Swahili speakers also use a plural form of the name - mapopobawa - to refer to multiple manifestations of the feared spirit. This plural is anglicized as "Popobawas".

Read more about this topic:  Popobawa

Famous quotes containing the words meaning of the, meaning of and/or meaning:

    The meaning of the Street in all ways and at all times is the need for sharing life with others and the search for community.
    Virginia Hamilton (b. 1936)

    I begin, then, with some remarks about ‘the meaning of a word.’ I think many persons now see all or part of what I shall say: but not all do, and there is a tendency to forget, or to get it slightly wrong. In so far as I am merely flogging the converted, I apologize to them.
    —J.L. (John Langshaw)

    Every generation rediscovers and re-evaluates the meaning of infancy and childhood.
    Arnold Gesell (20th century)