Rhodesia

[ roh-dee-zhuh ]

noun
  1. (as Southern Rhodesia ) a former British colony in southern Africa: declared independence 1965; name changed to Zimbabwe 1979.

  2. a historical region in southern Africa that comprised the British territories of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

Other words from Rhodesia

  • Rho·de·sian, adjective, noun

Words Nearby Rhodesia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Rhodesia in a sentence

  • Apuleni's father had been working in a mine in Southern Rhodesia.

    South and South Central Africa | H. Frances Davidson
  • He, with a number of other boys, went to Southern Rhodesia to work on a farm.

    South and South Central Africa | H. Frances Davidson
  • It had been his request to be buried in Rhodesia, the country that bore his name.

    South and South Central Africa | H. Frances Davidson
  • He had been in Rhodesia, poking about in some ancient ruins there, and—oh, my garden flower!

    Poppy | Cynthia Stockley

British Dictionary definitions for Rhodesia

Rhodesia

/ (rəʊˈdiːʃə, -zɪə) /


noun
  1. a former name (1964–79) for Zimbabwe

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Rhodesia

Rhodesia

[ (roh-dee-zhuh) ]


Former name of Zimbabwe, a nation in southeastern Africa.

Notes for Rhodesia

Rhodesia was named for Cecil Rhodes, the English industrialist whose British South Africa Company colonized the region at the end of the nineteenth century. He also founded the Rhodes Scholarships for study at Oxford University.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.