English, adjective and & noun
- Origin:
- EnglishShow more Special senses of general English.
A. adjective
1. a. Of or pertaining to the Anglican Church (officially, the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, see CPSA noun1); frequently in combination English Church. b. Of or pertaining to the English-language churches. Cf. Engelse Kerk (see Engels adjective sense 3).
1832 J. Cameron in B. Shaw Memorials (1841) 201Attended the service of the English Church. The bishop of Calcutta..preached a truly evangelical sermon.
1991 F.G. Butler Local Habitation 274Members of a steadily-diminishing English-speaking community still worshipping in ‘English’ churches.
2. a. Of or pertaining to (White) English-speaking South Africans. b. English-speaking; Engels-sprekende adjective, see Engels noun sense 3 b. In both senses also called Engels adjective sense 2.
1893 ‘Harley’ in Cape Illust. Mag. June 377Dutch and English Colonial farmers and a few young Englishmen, who..had come to South Africa to learn farming.
1993 L. Harris in Daily News 14 Jan. 13It was traditional for Afrikaans schools to make extensive use of fund-raising...‘English schools usually prefer to enforce higher school fees.’
3. Special collocation English Press, the South African English-language press; Engelse pers, see Engels adjective sense 3.
1943 ‘J. Burger’ Black Man’s Burden 246The English Press in the Union is Pro-British, and attacks the republican and Afrikaans movement wherever possible.
1993 H. Tyson Editors under Fire 11Every Nationalist speech from every political platform across the country devoted much of its content to the evils — and the dangers — of the Engelse pers, the English press.
B. noun , plural unchanged. a. Usually pl. : White English-speaking South Africans collectively; Engels noun sense 2 a. b. sing. rare. A White English-speaking South African: Engelsman sense 2.
- Note:
- Occasionally used as a singular in place of ‘Englishmen’, but representing the English English-speaking group as a whole (see quotations 1966, 1971).
1952 B. Davidson Report on Sn Afr. 153Against the long slow crucifixion of the Africans in South Africa the battle of words and shaken fists between the ‘English’ and the Afrikaners of today can seem, to strangers, little better than a shoddy farce.
1989 J. Hobbs Thoughts in Makeshift Mortuary 381‘We are fighting this war to the death for our country. You English are irrelevant —’ ‘Don’t call me English!’
Of or pertaining to the Anglican Church (officially, the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, see CPSA noun1); frequently in combination English Church.
Of or pertaining to the English-language churches.
Of or pertaining to (White) English-speaking South Africans.
English-speaking; Engels-sprekende adjective, see Engels noun sense 3 b. In both senses also called Engels adjective sense 2.
Special collocation English Press,the South African English-language press; Engelse pers, see Engels adjective sense 3.
Usually pl. :White English-speaking South Africans collectively; Engels noun sense 2 a.
A White English-speaking South African: Engelsman sense 2.

Chrome
Firefox
Internet Explorer
Safari