Library / English Dictionary

BANTU

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A family of languages widely spoken in the southern half of the African continent

Synonyms:

Bantoid language; Bantu

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("Bantu" is a kind of...):

Niger-Congo (a family of African language spoken in west Africa)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Bantu"):

Tonga (the language of the Tongan people of south central Africa (Zambia and Rhodesia))

Swahili (the most widely spoken Bantu languages; the official language of Kenya and Tanzania and widely used as a lingua franca in east and central Africa)

Umbundu (a Bantu language spoken in Angola)

Sotho (any of the mutually intelligible southern Bantu languages of the Sotho in Botswana and South Africa and Lesotho)

Shona (a Bantu language spoken in Zimbabwe)

Pokomo (a Bantu language spoken in the Kenyan coastal areas of East Africa)

Nyamwezi (a Bantu language spoken in central Tanzania)

Nguni (a group of southern Bantu languages)

Mwera (a Bantu language spoken in southern coastal Tanzania)

Mashi; Luyia (a Bantu language)

LuGanda (the Bantu language of the Buganda people; spoken in Uganda)

Chichewa (the Bantu language of the Chewa of east central Africa)

ChiMwini (a Bantu language spoken in southern Somalia)

Chishona (a Bantu language that is one of the two major languages of Zimbabwe)

Fang (a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon)

Gikuyu (a Bantu language spoken in western Kenya)

Giriama (a Bantu language spoken in the coastal regions of eastern Kenya)

Herero (a Banto language spoken by the Herero in Namibia, Botswana, and Angola)

Kamba (a Bantu language spoken by the Kamba in Kenya)

Chaga; Chagga; Kichaga (a Bantu language spoken by the Chaga in northern Tanzania)

Kinyarwanda; Kiswahili (a Bantu language)

Kongo (the Bantu language spoken by the Kongo living in the tropical forests of Zaire and Congo and Angola)

Luba; Tshiluba (a Bantu language spoken in southeastern Congo)

Derivation:

Bantu (of or relating to the African people who speak one of the Bantoid languages or to their culture)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A member of any of a large number of linguistically related peoples of Central and South Africa

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Bantu" is a kind of...):

African (a native or inhabitant of Africa)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Bantu"):

Herero (a member of a pastoral Bantu people living in Namibia, Botswana, and Angola)

Hutu (a member of a Bantu people living in Rwanda and Burundi)

Chiluba; Luba (a member of a Bantu people in southeastern Congo)

Sotho (a member of the Bantu people who inhabit Botswana, Lesotho, and northern South Africa and who speak the Sotho languages)

Batswana; Bechuana; Tswana (a member of a Bantu people living chiefly in Botswana and western South Africa)

Tutsi; Watusi; Watutsi (a member of a Bantu speaking people living in Rwanda and Burundi)

Shona (a member of a Bantu tribe living in present-day Zimbabwe)

Derivation:

Bantu (of or relating to the African people who speak one of the Bantoid languages or to their culture)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to the African people who speak one of the Bantoid languages or to their culture

Example:

the Bantu population of Sierra Leone

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

Bantu (a member of any of a large number of linguistically related peoples of Central and South Africa)

Derivation:

Bantu (a family of languages widely spoken in the southern half of the African continent)

Bantu (a member of any of a large number of linguistically related peoples of Central and South Africa)

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