Swahili

[ swah-hee-lee ]

noun,plural Swa·hi·lis, (especially collectively) Swa·hi·li for 1.
  1. a member of a Bantu people of Zanzibar and the neighboring coast of Africa.

  2. Also Ki·swa·hi·li or ki-Swa·hi·li [kee-swah-hee-lee] /ˌki swɑˈhi li/ . the Bantu language of the Swahili people, used also as a lingua franca in Tanzania, Kenya, and parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Origin of Swahili

1
First recorded in 1810–15; from Swahili, from Arabic sawāḥiliy “of or pertaining to the coast,” equivalent to sawāḥil, plural of sāḥil “coast” + -iy adjective and noun suffix

Other words from Swahili

  • Swa·hi·li·an, adjective

Words Nearby Swahili

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How to use Swahili in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Swahili

Swahili

/ (swɑːˈhiːlɪ) /


noun
  1. Also called: Kiswahili a language of E Africa that is an official language of Kenya and Tanzania and is widely used as a lingua franca throughout E and central Africa. It is a member of the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family, originally spoken in Zanzibar, and has a large number of loan words taken from Arabic and other languages

  2. Also called: Mswahili, Waswahili plural -lis or -li a member of a people speaking this language, living chiefly in Zanzibar

adjective
  1. of or relating to the Swahilis or their language

Origin of Swahili

1
C19: from Arabic sawāhil coasts

Derived forms of Swahili

  • Swahilian, adjective

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