laana

How to say it

Meaning

Words or a wish that call down harm or misfortune on someone, or the misfortune believed to follow from it, often as punishment from God or the ancestors.

Good to know

N class noun, the plural is also laana: kupata laana, to be cursed; kumtupia mtu laana, to put a curse on someone. From Arabic; the dictionary’s lana is an older spelling of it.

Examples

• Wazee waliamini ukame ule ulikuwa laana.The elders believed that drought was a curse.
• Mzee alimwachia mwanawe laana kabla ya kufa.The old man left a curse on his son before he died.
• Utajiri usiopatikana kwa haki unaweza kuwa laana.Wealth not gained honestly can be a curse.

The same word in

Forms

lana