‖ veld
(vɛlt, vɛld, fɛlt)
Also veldt, velt.
[a. older Du. veldt, now veld (vɛlt): see field n. The spelling veld is now the only permissible form in S. Africa and the most usual form in other varieties of English.]
1. In South Africa, the unenclosed country or open pasture-land.
Freq. with defining terms denoting character or locality, as bush-veld, grass-veld, high veld, low veld, sour veld, sweet veld. Hence occas. in pl.(quot. 1876).
| α 1785, 1801 [see next sense]. 1835 A. Steedman Wanderings S. Afr. I. ii. i. 92 Here for the first time we bivouacked in what is called the Veld. 1852 C. Barter Dorp & Veld 43 My preference for a less confined sleeping-place on the open ‘veld’. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting ix. 404 The velt is now full of a poisonous herb, which is certain death in a few hours to oxen. 1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 42/1 The pastoral lands or velds..are distinguished according to the nature of the grass or sedge which they produce as ‘sweet’ or ‘sour’. 1892 Tablet 13 Aug. 260 The priest lived under a tent on the veld. |
| β 1862 Colenso Pentateuch I. 114 Joseph..wandering alone upon the veldt in search of his brethren. 1879 Daily News 28 June 5/6 In the veldt..with a saddle for one's pillow. 1888 Times (weekly ed.) 25 May 7/3 Streets and squares and public buildings, where a year and a half ago was nothing but the boundless veldt. |
2. a. attrib., as
veld fire,
veld knowledge,
veld lily,
veld side,
veld stool, etc.
Similar uses are common from 1900 onwards.
| 1785 G. Forster tr. Sparrman's Voy. Cape of Good Hope II. xiv. 144 The land-drost has appointed one of the farmers, with the title of veld-corporal, to command in these wars. 1801 J. Barrow Trav. S. Afr. I. 378 Louw, the Veld Commandant, readily offered his services. 1861 Andersson Okavango River 49 The tremendous ‘veldt’ fires, which, ravaging the country far and wide, make it like a huge fiery furnace. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting i. 25 A deal table and a lot of velt stools and wagon chests the only furniture. 1895 J. G. Millais Breath fr. Veldt (1899) 78 A faithful native, who instructed him in veldt knowledge and all the arts of spooring. 1899 Daily News 24 Oct. 5/4 Here the veldt lilies and creeping convolvulus are beginning to bloom. 1946 R. Campbell Talking Bronco 66 With veld-flowers as an afterthought. 1959 Cape Times 18 July 2/5 The veld flowers should be excellent this year. |
b. Special
Comb. (chiefly with the spelling
veld), as
veld-cornet,
= field-cornet field n. 21;
veld-craft, skill in matters pertaining to survival on the veld;
veld fever (see
quot.);
veld-kos,
-kost [
Du. kost food] (see
quot.);
veldman,
veldsman, one skilled in living or hunting on the veldt;
veld pig, the Ethiopian wart-hog (
Phacochœrus ethiopicus);
veld rat, the striped rat of S. Africa;
veld sickness (see
quot.);
veld sores, a form of skin eruption due to living on the open veldt.
| 1802 G. M. Theal Rec. Cape Colony (1899) IV. 324, I have the honor to add the original report of the *Veld Cornet Nicholaus Johannes Roets, sent to me with those Hottentots. 1852 J. C. Brown Arbousset's Narrative xxiii. 350 He went to the drinking place of a veldcornet, a kind of country magistrate. 1899 Rider Haggard Swallow ix, I, as Veld-Cornet of the district, have tried the case according to the law. |
| 1905 D. Blackburn R. Hartley, Prospector 205 He associated with greedy, scheming directors, who were ignorant of *veld-craft. 1910 J. Buchan Prester John xiv. 232 The veld-craft I had mastered had taught me a few things. 1980 Country Life 9 Oct. 1258/1 Olive Schreiner..possessed considerable veldt-craft and also the power of minute observation. |
| 1899 Mrs. Phillips S. Afr. Recoll. 9 ‘*Veld fever’ is a malady, a longing indescribable, which comes over many South Africans, who have lived much on the veld. |
| 1834 Pringle Afr. Sk. 82 The *veld-kost we will gather. Ibid. 523 Veld-kost, literally country-food, is the term used for the wild roots and bulbs eaten by the Bushmen. 1948 Cape Argus (Mag. Section) 23 Oct. 1/7 The summer rains of 1915 had revived the fountains and veldkos was abundant. In a drought year he could not have survived. 1961 Africa XXXI. 231 When !U had a baby, her sister, Di!ai, gathered veldkos for her for five days. |
| 1899 Contemp. Rev. Oct. 475 Stout wardens of the marches who are known to be as good *veldmen and riflemen as any Boers in Africa. 1895 J. G. Millais Breath fr. Veldt (1899) 286 Tace..liked to parade himself as an old Veldtsman. |
| 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vi. 155 Just after sunset..a flac farc (*veldt pig) came out of a hole near me. |
| 1905 Rep. Brit. Assoc. 551 The disease has been observed in *veld rats (Arvicanthus pumilio), cats, and in one dog. |
| 1896 R. Wallace Farming Ind. Cape Colony 82 Animals brought from sweet veld suffer from what is termed *veld sickness, which results from insufficient nutrition and the hard and irritating nature of the food consumed. |
| 1898 Rae Malaboch Campaign 61 Owing to the insufficient supply of vegetables, there were several cases of *veld sores. 1901 Brit. Med. Jrnl. No. 2095. 486 Veld sores formed the most frequent entry in the morning company sick reports. |