v.tr. okwengeza.

be ou'^e rinp have just the right degree of ripeness (of fruit, etc.). cf. emboosa, embooseera.

ripen fully. cf. -buulukufu.

e- (li/ma) partly ripened fruit of the muwafu or the musaali tree. Lukuba eggu ne luleka omuzima. (Death, olumbe) strikes the young fruit and leaves the ripe fruit (untouched). This saying refers to one who dies at a very young age.

e- (ki/bi) rack/net on which bananas are stored while ripening. It is usually built above the fireplace. Olwa leero ekibanyi lwe kigwa n'amenvu. Today is the day! cf. akabanyi, olubanyi.

e- with the -a of rel. partly ripened (of fruit); not completely done (of food); light colored (of Africans), empafu ey'eki- bogwe, a partially ripened mpafu fruit. Abantu abasinga obungi mu bitundu bino balina obugunjufu bwa kibogwe. Most of the people in these areas have a defective/ poor culture.

e- (ki/bi) fruit which is slow in ripening, cf. kona.

be slow in cooking; refuse to ripen (of fruit); be stunted in growth (of persons); be silent, refuse to answer; remain motionless (when expected to act); sulk, okukona ku musomo, to fail a course and be obliged to repeat. Embooge ekonye. lit. The mbooge (a green vegetable which cooks easily) has refused to cook. Things have gone completely wrong.

e- (ki/bi) the top bananas on a bunch. They are often much larger than the rest and ripen first.

e- (n/n) netting/rack on which clusters of beer bananas are placed to ripen before they are used in brewing.

cause to ripen/become rotten.

cover up (e.g., a gourd so that when the inside decays it can be easily cleaned; bananas so that they may ripen prep aratory to making beer).

become ripe. Ekyengera amangu, kivunda mangu. (prov.) That which ripens quickly rots quickly. Easy come, easy go. okwengera inf.

etc.; become red hot (usually of metal); become inflamed (of a boil or abscess). Ennaku zikwengeredde! Onodda wa? Time is running out. The time of the expected event is drawing near. What will you do?

-(y)engerevu, ekyengera.

decompose (of a corpse). Ettooke likunku- muka. The bunch of plantains has ripened to the point that the fruit is almost falling off. Akunkumuka ng'aseka. He is doubled up with laughter.

ripen incompletely (of bananas).

of fresh fish).

ripened, cf. yengera.