What is the origin of 'sleep tight'?
Read moreOne of the mysteries of the English language finally explained.
noun
1A member of a people of Mizoram in north-eastern India.
- ‘It is this kind of indifference to their future that turns north-easterners (Nagas, Mizos and others) wish to secede from India.’
- ‘Rich in culture, tradition, and folklore, the Mizos have often demonstrated their native dances to the nation during the Republic Day functions in New Delhi.’
- ‘Nagas and Mizos have fought protracted guerrilla wars against the government to prevent their ethnic identities and their interests from being submerged in an India of ‘principal languages’.’
- ‘As a result Manipuris, Nagas and Mizos are often asked if they are Chinese, Japanese or from some other Southeast Asian country.’
- ‘And after Welsh missionaries arrived in the area in 1894, nearly all Bnei Menashes, Kukis and Mizos were converted from their animistic beliefs to Christianity.’
2mass noun The Tibeto-Burman language of the Mizo.
Also called Lushai
adjective
Relating to the Mizo or their language.
- ‘Few know that 500-odd students and several government officials and families from Mizoram live in this city, and fewer still know anything about Mizo culture.’
- ‘In neighboring Mizoram state, minority Hindu and Buddhist Reang tribals were kicked out of the state by the majority Christian Mizo tribals.’
- ‘And as a member of the Sahitya Akademi General Council, he has been doing his bit to promote Mizo language and culture in the Capital.’
- ‘She says that women are fighting hard for equality within the church, but it is an uphill task being pitched against the patriarchal forces of Mizo society.’
- ‘And more intriguing was the fact that a festival of the Mizo dances had presentations by local Kuchipudi artistes!’
Origin
The name in Mizo, literally ‘highlander’, from mi- ‘person’ + zo ‘hill’.
