Zimbabwe - Definitions from Dictionary.com

5 results for: Zimbabwe

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Zim·bab·we

Audio Help [zim-bahb-wey, -wee] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	Formerly, Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia. a republic in S Africa: a former British colony and part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; gained independence 1980. 11,423,175; 150,330 sq. mi. (389,362 sq. km). Capital: Harare.

2.	the site of stone ruins (Great Zimbabwe) discovered c1870 in Rhodesia, probably built by a Bantu people, consisting of three main groups of ruins, and dating between the 9th and 15th centuries a.d.

—Related forms

Zim·bab·we·an, adjective, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Zimbabwe

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Zim·bab·we¹ Audio Help (zĭm-bäb'wē, -wā) Pronunciation Key
A ruined city of southeast Zimbabwe south of Harare. First occupied by Iron Age peoples in the third century A.D., it was rediscovered c. 1870 and is believed by some to be the site of King Solomon's mines.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Zim·bab·we² Audio Help (zĭm-bäb'wē, -wā) Pronunciation Key

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A country of southern Africa. Various Bantu peoples migrated into the area during the first millennium, displacing the earlier San inhabitants. European colonization began in 1889 under the British South Africa Company founded by Cecil Rhodes, and in 1923 it became the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia (often just Rhodesia), which formed part of the colonial federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland from 1953 to 1963. Rhodesia declared itself independent in 1965, although independence was not formally granted by Great Britain until 1980. Harare is the capital and the largest city. Population: 12,200,000.

Zim·bab'we·an adj. & n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

zimbabwe
noun
a landlocked republic in south central Africa formerly called Rhodesia; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1980

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
Zimbabwe [(zim-bahb-way)]

Landlocked republic in south-central Africa, bordered by Botswana to the west, Zambia to the north, Mozambique to the east, and South Africa to the south. Formerly called Rhodesia. Harare (formerly called Salisbury) is the capital and largest city.

Note: A British colony from the end of the nineteenth century to 1965 and then (1965–1980) a renegade state ruled by a white minority, Zimbabwe became independent in 1980.

[Chapter:] World Geography

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