Swahili

American  

[swah-hee-lee] / swɑˈhi li /

noun

plural

Swahilis,

plural

Swahili

1. a member of a Bantu people of Zanzibar and the neighboring coast of Africa.

2. Also Kiswahili or ki-Swahili 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.

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Swahili British  

/ 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.  a member of a people speaking this language, living chiefly in Zanzibar

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Swahilis or their language

Other Word Forms

• Swahilian adjective

Etymology

Origin of Swahili

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

Example Sentences

Instead, the group work through a mix of lullabies, folk and gospel, switching from Spanish to Congolese to Swahili in rounds of four-part harmonies.

From BBC

Altar wine, popularly known as divai in Swahili language, is consumed differently across dioceses, depending on the liturgical season and the level of church activity.

From BBC

He gave her a pointed look, she says, and addressed her brusquely in Swahili: “You’re a Gen Z—come here.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Somalia is to introduce Swahili, the lingua franca of East Africa, to its national curriculum, the president has announced.

From BBC

To hear “Summertime” in Swahili, a beautiful language for song, is indescribably touching.

From Los Angeles Times