When is a number not a number? Let’s find out.

The Swahili word nymba [ˈɲu.ᵐbɑ] looks and sounds a bit like the English word number, but actually means house.

It comes from Proto-Bantu *njʊ̀mbá (house) and is related to words such as nyumba (house) in Chichewa, Mwani and Tumbuka, and enyumba (house) in Kabwa [source].

Swahili words derived from nyumba include: nyumbani (home, at home, in the house), chumba (room) and kijumba (small house, cottage), which are diminutives of nyumba, jumba (mansion, large building), an augmentative of nyumba, uchumba (courtship, engagement), mchumba (lover, fiancé(e), partner), nyumba ya uzazi (womb, uterus, lit. “birth room”), nyumba ya dawa (pharmacy, drugstore), and unyumba (marital relations, married life) [source].

The word namba also exists in Swahili, means number, and was borrowed from English. It is a form of nambari (number), and appears in expressions such as namba hasi (negative number), sio na namba (numberless), and nambari ya simu (phone number) [source].