Kilimanjaro the Name

Located in Tanzania, Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s tallest mountain at about 5,895 meters (19,340 feet). It is the largest free-standing mountain rise in the world, meaning it is not part of a mountain range and the highest in Africa.

Kilimanjaro has in it lots of etymologies, meaning that there’s no first hand evidence on the written etymologies, almost all are based on rumors and hearsay passed over generation and most likely we read from the libraries in England and Germany. According to written documents there arise quite a few etymologies of the word Kilimanjaro in which at the end I will leave it to you to see what can Kilimanjaro actually mean.

  ‘the meaning of the name kilima njaro, if it has any meaning, is unknown to the Swahili…to be analyzed, it must first be corrupted. this has been done by Mr.Rebman, who converts kilima njaro into kilima dja-ro, which he tells us signifies, ‘mountain of greatness,’ this etymology…is wholly inadmissible for the following reasons; first it is mere nonsense.

So said the famous William D. Cooley a leading British geographer during the mid-nineteenth century, in his book ‘inner Africa laid open,’nonsense Rebman’s suggestion may have been, but in the absence of better alternatives, the translation is as valid as any other. For the fact of the matter is that despite extensive studies into the etymology of the name Kilimanjaro, nobody is really sure where it comes from, or what exactly it means.

Delving into the local Tanzanian dialects, particularly that of the Chagga people residing near the mountain, offers a promising avenue for exploration. Although Kilimanjaro does not directly correspond to any Chagga word, a breakdown of the name reveals potential connections. One interpretation suggests that “Kilima” could stem from “kilelema,” meaning ‘difficult or impossible,’ while “jaro” may derive from “njaare” (bird) or “jyaro” (caravan). This perspective implies that Kilimanjaro signifies a formidable challenge, such as ‘That which is impossible for the bird’ or ‘that which defeats the caravan,’ emphasizing the mountain’s immense scale.

The origin of the name Kilimanjaro is a topic of speculation and various theories. While it is not of Chagga origin, the most probable source of the name appears to be Swahili, the predominant language in Tanzania. Johann Ludwig Krapf, a missionary and friend of Rebmann, suggested that Kilimanjaro could be a Swahili term meaning ‘Mountain of Greatness’ or a composite Swahili/Chagga name signifying ‘Mountain of Caravans’. The latter interpretation suggests that the name could refer to the numerous trading caravans that historically stopped at the mountain for water. However, a notable issue with these theories is that the Swahili word for mountain is actually ‘mlima’, not ‘kilima’, with the latter term meaning ‘hill’. Another less plausible source for the name is the Maasai language, as the Maasai word for spring or water, ‘njore’, could have potentially evolved into ‘njaro’ over time. Nevertheless, there is no Maasai word akin to ‘kilima’, and the Maasai refer to the mountain as ‘Oldoiny Oibor’ meaning ‘White Mountain’, with its peak Kibo known as the ‘House of God’.