sjambok

Meanings

Noun

• A stout whip, especially made of rhinoceros or hippopotamus hide.

Verb

• To whip with a sjambok; to horsewhip.

Origin

• From Afrikaans sjambok, from Dutch sjambok, from Javanese cambuk, and as borrowed in Malay: modern Indonesian and Malay, ultimately from Persian چابک. Originally spelt in the colonial Dutch transliteration tscamboek. The term was imported by VOC officials, Dutch merchants, the Maardijkers (Maluku (Moluccan) freemen and burghers), and Inlanders (Javanese and other modern Indonesian slaves and political exiles expelled to Dutch South Africa).