Bible Encyclopedias
Zaire

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

Search for…

Enter query below:

or

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Prev Entry
Zaimukht

Next Entry
Zaisan

Resource Toolbox

Print Article

Additional Links

Concordances
Nave Topical Bible
• Zair
Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
• Zair
Fausset Bible Dictionary
• Zair
Holman Bible Dictionary
• Zair
Hitchcock Bible Names
• Zair
Hastings' BibleDictionary
• Zair
Morrish Bible Dictionary
• Zair
Smith Bible Dictionary
• Zair
Encyclopedias
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
• Zaire
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
• Zair
McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia
• Zair
• Zair (2)
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
• Zaire
Lexicons
• צָעִיר

a name by which the river Congo was formerly known. Zaire is a Portuguese variant of a Bantu word (nzari) meaning river. In the 16th and 17th centuries the powerful native kingdom of Congo possessed both banks of the lower river, and the name of the country was in time given to the river also. Until, however, the last quarter of the 19th century "Zaire" was frequently used to designate the stream. It is so called by Camoens in the Lusiads. Since H. M. Stanley's discoveries "Congo" has become the general name for the river from its mouth to Stanley Falls, despite an effort on the part of Stanley to have the stream re-named Livingstone. (See CONGO, river.)