Veld

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /vÉ›lt/, /vÉ›ld/, /fÉ›lt/

Alternative forms

• veldt

Origin

From obsolete Dutch veldt ("field") (now veld), from Proto-Germanic *fulþuz, *felþą. Doublette with English field.

Full definition of veld

Noun

1. The open pasture land or grassland of South Africa.
• 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.
• For Holmes, Baartman’s journey as an object of European curiosity and African exploitation began on the veld of South Africa’s Eastern Cape.