abatagati
/əˌbatəˈɡɑːti/(also abatakati, abathagathi, abathakathi) South African
noun
Treated as plural. Especially among the Nguni peoples: witches or wizards as a class; practitioners of evil magic.
Origin
Mid 19th century. From Xhosa abathakathi and its cognate Zulu abathakathi practitioners of magic collectively from aba-, plural class prefix + thakathi witch, wizard. Compare Xhosa umthakathi, Zulu umthakathi an individual witch or wizard, and also Zulu ubuthakathi witchcraft.