azima
verb
to lend.
Can describe a loan in either direction, of money or an object.
Also to borrow.
Origins
Azima, “to lend or borrow,” is inherited Bantu vocabulary: Proto-Sabaki -azįma, from Common Bantu -jádima, cognate with Ngazidja Comorian and Digo -azima. A separate, identically spelled noun, azima meaning “resolve” or “charm,” is unrelated and comes from Arabic عَزِيمَة (ʿazīma).
Sources4
Mzee Morino Tsuneo and Nassor Nakazima Hisasi (editors), ILCAA online lexicon: A dictionary of the Swahili language (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, ILCAA, 1990–1997), +azima; [S24].
Records the borrowing sense.
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (1903), Printed p. 18, lending/borrowing entry.
Records both lending and borrowing, of money or goods.
Edward Steere, A Handbook of the Swahili Language as Spoken at Zanzibar (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1884), PDF page 281.
Records the lending sense; uses azimua for borrowing.
- azima (Wiktionary)
Derives the verb azima (“to lend/borrow”) from Proto-Sabaki *-azįma (< Common Bantu *-jádima), and separately derives the unrelated noun azima from Arabic عَزِيمَة (ʿazīma).
Examples
Niazime simu yako.
Lend me your phone.
Naweza kuazima kalamu yako?
Can I borrow your pen?
Niliazima mwavuli kutoka kwa jirani.
I borrowed an umbrella from a neighbor.
Usiazime pesa kutoka kwa watu usiowajua.
Don't borrow money from people you don't know.
Ameazima baiskeli kwa siku moja.
They've borrowed a bike for one day.
Tuazime ramani hotelini.
Let's borrow a map from the hotel.
Niazime chaja yako kwa dakika kumi.
Lend me your charger for ten minutes.
Umeazima pesa hizi kutoka kwa nani?
Who did you borrow this money from?
Nataka kuazima gari la rafiki yangu wikendi hii.
I want to borrow my friend's car this weekend.
