veld

Alternative forms

• veldt

Etymology

From Dutch veld, veldt (“field”), from Proto-Germanic *fulþuz, *felþą. Doublet of field.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /vɛlt/, /vɛld/, /fɛlt/

Noun

veld (plural velds)

1. The open pasture land or grassland of South Africa and neighboring countries.
   • 1979, André Brink, A Dry White Season, Vintage 1998, p. 79:

     Pale yellow and greyish brown, the bare veld of late summer lay flat and listless under the drab sky.

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 11:

     From an early age, I spent most of my free time in the veld playing and fighting with the other boys of the village.

   • 2007, January 14, “Caroline Elkins”, in A Life Exposed‎:

     For Holmes, Baartman’s journey as an object of European curiosity and African exploitation began on the veld of South Africa’s Eastern Cape.

Etymology

From Middle Dutch velt (“field”), from Old Dutch feld, felt, from Proto-Germanic *felþą, from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂-. Cognates include West Frisian fjild, English field and German Feld.^[1]

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛlt

• audio

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Noun

veld n (plural velden, diminutive veldje n)

1. field

References