Thembu
noun
Thembu is spelled T-H-E-M-B-U: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 60 million words in written English, the 243,301st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, Thembu means “A member of a certain South African tribe that speak Xhosa and live in Thembuland” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of Thembu is Thembus.
How many letters and syllables are in Thembu?
| Letters | 6: T-H-E-M-B-U |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 60 million words; the 243,301st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is Thembu?
Thembu appears about once in every 60 million words in written English, the 243,301st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Forms of Thembu
- Thembus plural
- Tembu
- Thimbu
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does Thembu mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A member of a certain South African tribe that speak Xhosa and live in Thembuland.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does Thembu come from?
From Zulu umThembu (“a Thembu”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).