Word
african
Phoneticsafrican
/ˈæfɹəkən/
Definitions
01relating to Africa
adj. relating to the continent of Africa or its people.
adj. pertaining to the continent of Africa, its constituent nations, or its inhabitants.
“We spent the evening listening to traditional African music and eating spicy food.”
“The museum's new wing features an extensive collection of African art, spanning several centuries and representing dozens of distinct ethnic groups.”
Usage
Always capitalized in English as it is derived from a proper noun.
02a person from Africa
n. a person who comes from Africa or whose family is from there.
n. a native or inhabitant of Africa, or a person of African descent.
“Many Africans living abroad maintain strong ties to their home countries.”
“The conference brought together Africans from across the diaspora to discuss economic development and technological innovation.”
Usage
Always capitalized; functions as a countable noun.
Etymology
Attested as a noun in early New English Aphricane, Africans (plural), Middle English as Affrican, Aufrican and Old English as Africanas (“Africans”) (only plural). From Latin āfricānae, from āfricānus, from Āfricus. The adjective appears in the 16th century, as Affricane, Africane, African. Latin Āfricus is from Āfri (singular Āfer), the name of an ancient people of North Africa (near Carthage, in Tunisia), with the suffix -icus. āfricānus is formed by addition of the -ānus suffix. By surface analysis, Africa + -an.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
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