‖mali, noun

/ˈmɑːli//ˈmaːli/
Forms:
imali, mahliShow more Also imali, mahli, marlie.
Origin:
IsiXhosa, isiZulu, EnglishShow more IsiXhosa and isiZulu imali, adaptation of English money.
Money.
1851 J.F. Churchill Diary. (Killie Campbell Africana Library MS37) 14One Caffir..came to ask for work and when asked how much marlie replied one pound a month.
1852 C. Barter Dorp & Veld 214 (Pettman)The Kaffir has..made the discovery that..a certain number of threepenny pieces is the most desirable of possessions; and nothing which is not readily convertible into mali, or hard cash, has now much attraction for him.
1899 G.H. Russell Under Sjambok 50A native will go through fire and water for mali (money).
1911 P. Gibbon Margaret Harding 66Picanin all right; plenty scoff, plenty mahli, plenty everything.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 307Mali,..A word in constant use among the natives, and frequently heard among the colonists also, for money.
a1931 S. Black in S. Gray Three Plays (1984) 141Maningi mali, Baas. Plenty money!
a1931 S. Black in S. Gray Three Plays (1984) 142Baas, if I take now this — ten pound — and afterwards you make plenty mali out of the gold, you must give me and Grietje a job by Johannesburg and one hundred pound!
[1948 A. Paton Cry, Beloved Country 225And money is imali. — Right also.]
1970 R. Maytham Informant, Empangeni, KwaZulu-NatalLots [of] mali (money).
Money.
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IsiXhosa
IsiZulu
malgas, nounn.malkop, nounn. & adjectiveadj.
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