Glossary
Terms Used at the Cape in the Eighteenth Century
- Bastaard
- person of mixed race
- Bastaard- Hottentot
- person of mixed race with Khoisan ancestry
- Basters
- Christian community of mixed Khoisan, slave, and European ancestry; Basters eventually settled north of the Cedarberg, including areas in present-day Namibia
- boer
- farmer (see also trekboer and veeboer)
- buitenpost
- VOC outpost
- burgher
- citizen
- Bushman, also Bosjesman
- San, indigenous hunter-gatherers
- Caabwards
- towards Cape Town
- the Company
- the Dutch East India Company (VOC)
- dagboek
- journal, official VOC log for the Cape
- d'Oude
- the elder
- drostdy
- magisterial seat
- droster
- runaway
- free black
- a person of neither indigenous nor European origin and not enslaved
- fiscaal
- VOC official, second in command at the Cape; responsible for legal prosecution
- fynbos
- shrubs endemic to the Western Cape; part of Cape floral kingdom; fynbos comprises the majority of native plants in the Cedarberg
- gemeente
- church congregation, parish
- Griquas
- Christian community of mixed Khoisan, slave, and European ancestry; Griquas eventually settled in the eastern Karoo, near what would become the boundary between the Cape Colony and the Orange Free State
- heemraad
- landdrost's advisory council, a member of that council
- Heren XVII
- Lords XVII, directors of the VOC
- hofsteede
- farmhouse
- Hottentot
- Khoikhoi, pastoralist
- inboekseling/
inboekselinge
- Khoisan indentured servant(s)
- inboekselsel
- system of indenturing
- ingeboekt
- registered as indentured
- Kaapenaar
- resident of the Cape
- Karoo
- semi-desert region to the east of the Cedarberg
- kamer
- chamber, administrative division of the VOC
- Khoikhoi, also Khoi, Khoe
- indigenous pastoralists
- Khoisan
- encompassing term for hunters and herders when a more accurate description is not possible
- kloof
- ravine
- knecht
- servant, usually a VOC employee working for wages; often employed as an overseer, or as a teacher
- kraal
- Khoisan encampment; livestock corral; homestead
- landbouwer
- farmer
- landdrost
- magistrate
- Namaquas
- Khoikhoi community living in Namaqualand, north of the Cedarberg
- NGK
- Nederlands Gereformeerde Kerk
Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa
- muid
- unit of dry volume, equivalent to 3.1 bushels
- opgaaf
- census and taxation rolls
- opstal
- farm buildings
- pacht
- monopoly trading rights in specific commodities, including beer, wine, and meat. The VOC granted the trading rights to approved pachters in return for a rent, the pachtgeld.
- predikant
- preacher
- togt
- hunting trip
- trekboer
- pastoralist, migrant farmer
- veeboer
- cattle or livestock farmer
- veld
- field, landscape
- veldkornet
- a burgher appointee, subordinate to the landdrost
- veldkorporal
- officer in the burgher militia; appointed by districts (wyk) in rural areas to fulfill both military duties and some civil administration
- veldwagmeester
- burger militia officer, appointed by districts
- vendu rol/rolle
- auction roll(s)
- VOC
- Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie
Dutch East India Company
- wyk
- administrative subdivision within a landdrost's district