kumbaya

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Gullah. Apparently a corruption of the English phrase “come by here” in a spiritual song.

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌkum.baɪˈjɑ/, /ˌkum.bɑˈjɑ/, /ˈkʌm.baː.jə/

Noun

kumbaya

  1. Used to evoke spiritual unity and interpersonal harmony, with varying degrees of sincerity or sarcasm, as referring to the folk song.
    • 2024, Tommy Orange, Wandering Stars, Harvill Secker, page 163:
      Dr. Hoffman told me the word kumbaya was originally an African American spiritual, a song that was also a prayer asking for divine intervention, asking for help in dire times, and that then the hippies in the sixties took it and sang it to mean unity amid protest, and then it got played out and became a stand-in for corniness about togetherness.

Derived terms

Further reading

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