‖ Voortrekker S. Afr.
(ˈfʊərtrɛkər)
[Du., Afrikaans, f. Du. voor- before + trekken trek v.]
One of the original Dutch emigrants into the Transvaal; a pioneer.
| 1878 Aylward Transvaal of To-day i. 3 Mr. Oliphant,..in speaking of the Voortrekkers (advanced pioneers), says [etc.]. 1883 Pall Mall G. 26 Nov. 2/1 To prevent a large and respected portion of the English people from ever doing justice to the Transvaal Voortrekkers. 1899 Rider Haggard Swallow Introd. §2 Sympathy with the Voortrekkers of 1836 is easy. |
| attrib. 1895 J. G. Millais Breath fr. Veldt (1899) 61 In those days the ‘voor-trekker’ Dutchmen shot them [the natives] down like rabbits. 1899 Fitzpatrick Transvaal 26 The active party among the Boers, i.e. the Voortrekker party, the most anti-British and Republican. |