ossewa, noun

/ˈɔsəvɑː/
Plurals:
ossewae/ˈɔsəvɑːə/, ossewaens/ˈɔsəvɑːəns/.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, ox-wagon.
1. obsolete. Always with initial capital. Short for Ossewa Brandwag (see OB noun1). Also attributive.
1941 Bantu World 22 Feb. 4Ossewa Storm Troopers of Afrikanerdom. ‘The members of the Ossewa Brandwag are, and shall always be, the Storm troopers of Afrikanerdom,’ said Mr O. Pirow.
1943 A. Campbell Smuts & Swastika 113It became plain that the Ossewa, organised on military lines, with commandants and generals and ‘Storm troops’, was nothing more than a South African Nazi Party.
1947 G.A.L. Green Editor Looks Back 227Hot-heads shriek for the complete suppression of the subversive organisation known as the Ossewa Brandwag (The Ox-Wagon Sentinel), but the Government..wishes to avoid driving Ossewa underground.
‖2.
a. An ox-wagon.
1975 Sunday Times 20 Apr. 16At the University of Pretoria there is an ossewa — the 100 per cent genuine article, as my friend the wholesaler would say.
1988 Spiegel & Boonzaier in Boonzaier & Sharp S. Afr. Keywords 54Monuments were erected, public holidays created, and even individual items such as the ossewa (oxwagon) and kruithoring (gunpowder flask) became powerful symbols of Afrikanerdom.
1990 Weekend Mail 6 July 11On the Wire is the story of a community under siege. Where previously the ossewa fortified the laager, now the electrified wire fences of the title surround the dorp.
1993 ‘Not One of Them’ in Weekend Post 19 June 9 (letter)There they will be able to discuss the good old days with tannies in their Voortrekker dresses and kappies and again be able to make use of their beloved ossewaens.
b. figurative. ox-wagon. Also attributive.
1975 Sunday Times 13 Apr. 4Hansie explained to me that at Herstigte banquets in the Waterberg they did not have their dinner a la carte but a la ossewa.
1977 Sunday Times 31 July 14South Africa can no longer be..excited by the belief that the verligtes will one day hijack the party ossewa and drag it into the future.
1980 M.Q. Carstens in Cape Herald 27 Dec. 12We can no longer allow this sinful groot-trekker ossewa-mentality to preach love from the pulpit and set barriers in the pews.
1988 R. Rumney in Weekly Mail 18 Oct. 15Townhouse complexes were built in the middle of the veld, like laagering the ossewae against possible total onslaught.
Always with initial capital.Short for Ossewa Brandwag (see OB noun1). Also attributive.
An ox-wagon.
ox-wagon. Also attributive.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

19411993

Browse Related Words

By Category

Organisations Parties and Movements
Ethos and Ideology

By Origin

Afrikaans

By Usage

elliptical
obsolete or obsolescent
Orphan Chamber, noun phrasen. phr.ostrich, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English