halfmens, noun

/ˈhalfmens//ˈhɑːfmens/
Forms:
Also halve-mens, and (formerly) halfmensch.
Plurals:
halfmense/ˈhalfmensə/.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, half half + mens person.
The succulent plant or small tree Pachypodium namaquanum of the Apocynaceae, having a thick, tapering, spiny, and usually branchless stem with a tuft of leaves at the top; elephant’s trunk, see elephant; half-man. Also attributive.
Note:
Usually 1,5m to 2,5m in height, the halfmens sometimes reaches a height of 5m.
[1911 State Nov. 487 (Pettman)The ravines and slopes were here dotted with the extraordinary column-like succulent Pachypodium Namaquanum, known to the Hottentots as Half-mense.]
1912 E. London Dispatch 17 May 6 (Pettman)Our north western divisions..so empty of life that the inhabitants..speak of a certain branchless, mopheaded, succulent plant growing there as ’n halve-mens, that is its shape is half-man like as seen against the sky line!
1945 L.G. Green Where Men Still Dream 131The Pachypodium Namaquanum, as the scientists call the ‘half-mens’, was discovered a century ago by the explorer Paterson.
1968 G. Croudace Black Rose 161Jeremy knew the trees he was talking about. From a distance they looked like grotesque human beings. The Afrikaner trekkers had christened them half-mens.
1976 O. Levinson Story of Namibia 119The weird desert tree ‘half-mens’ (Pachypodium namaquanum) said by the Namas to be their ancestors, who leaning towards the north from where they originated, were petrified.
1977 Daily Dispatch 26 Apr. 10The halfmens is well represented in..folklore and Nama legends...Its Afrikaans vernacular name ‘halfmens’..is also generally used in English.
1987 I. Claassen in S. Afr. Panorama Aug. 23 (caption)The halfmens (semi-human) plant, Pachypodium namaquanum, on Kodas Peak...The head of each trunk of the plant is always turned in a northerly direction as if the lost souls are for ever trying to turn back to their fatherland.
1990 S. Rowles in Weekend Post 16 June (Leisure) 5 (caption)This halfmens tree is estimated to be 300 years old. Examples of this rare plant as old as 1000 years are found in the Richtersveld.
1992 P. Cullinan Robert Jacob Gordon 110 (caption)Pachypodium namaquanarum (a member of the Num-Num family) from the western banks of the Orange River. It is also known as the ‘half-mens’.
The succulent plant or small tree Pachypodium namaquanum of the Apocynaceae, having a thick, tapering, spiny, and usually branchless stem with a tuft of leaves at the top; elephant’s trunk, see elephant; half-man. Also attributive.
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Afrikaans
half-man, nounn.hamba, verb intransitivev.
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