Hausa

American  

[hou-sah, -suh, -zuh] / ˈhaʊ sɑ, -sə, -zə /

Or Haussa

noun

plural

Hausas,

plural

Hausa

1. a member of an Indigenous people of northern Nigeria and southern Niger whose culture has been strongly influenced by Islam.

2. the language of the Hausa people, belonging to the Chadic branch of the Afroasiatic family, widely used in Africa as a language of commerce.

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Hausa British  

/ ˈhaʊsə /

noun

1. a member of a Negroid people of W Africa, living chiefly in N Nigeria

2. the language of this people: the chief member of the Chadic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages. It is widely used as a trading language throughout W Africa and the S Sahara

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Example Sentences

Traditional Hausa society stresses background checks on lineage, morality and family reputation before marriage.

From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026

Most Nigerian films on major streamers like Netflix and Amazon Prime are from the country's richer south, where Hausa is a minority language.

From Barron's • Jan. 9, 2026

A witness to the attack told BBC Hausa that there were no security forces in the village.

From BBC • Jan. 4, 2026

One inconsolable father, whose daughter is still being held captive, told BBC Hausa that his family had been crying non-stop and "it's hard to go back home and look at their faces".

From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025

“They did not give me trouble. I spoke Hausa to them. One of them brought out a picture of Ojukwu and asked me to piss on it and I did.”

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie