Explanation of the word "mto" in Swahili.
While asking for the definition of a single word seems foolish in the 21st century, could I clarify why many dictionaries define "mto" as both "pillow" and "river"? Is there some cultural/historical explanation of this (that could let me better appreciate the word)?

Question

Answer

It is perfectly possible that both words had a separate history but ended up with the same spelling.

There's very little information online on Swahili etymology, but you might appreciate (as a comparison) that the word "sound" in English has several different meanings (something audible; healthy; a body of water; to ascertain depth), and those differences come from separate word-histories.

Answer

These are words with similar pronounciation but different meanings.
Maneno haya huitwa vitawe kwa Kiswahili.