Kombuis

Kombuis is an Afrikaans noun meaning kitchen. In everyday use it refers to the room or area where meals are prepared and, in households, to the kitchen as a space for cooking, cleaning up, and food preparation. In maritime and military contexts, kombuis denotes the ship’s galley, the kitchen of a vessel where meals are prepared for the crew or soldiers.

The word originates from the Dutch term kombuis, historically associated with the galley on ships. In Afrikaans it has retained and broadened that sense, becoming the common term for domestic kitchens while still designating galleys on boats and ships. Unlike the Dutch word keuken, which is primarily the everyday kitchen in Dutch, kombuis is the standard Afrikaans term for both settings in many contexts.

In contemporary South Africa and Namibia, kombuis is used across urban and rural speech. The word appears in literature, media, and everyday conversation to refer to cooking spaces, and it also forms part of idiomatic expressions such as “in die kombuis” to mean “in the kitchen.” The concept encompasses household kitchens as well as communal or camp kitchens in outdoor or deployed settings.