Ethiopian

[ ee-thee-oh-pee-uhn ]

adjective

1. of or relating to Ethiopia or to its inhabitants.
2. belonging to the part of Africa south of the equator.
3. Zoogeography. belonging to a geographical division comprising Africa south of the tropic of Cancer, the southern part of Arabia, and Madagascar.
4. Archaic. Black African.

noun

1. a native of Ethiopia.
2. a member of any of various supposedly dark-skinned peoples regarded by the ancients as coming from a country lying south of Egypt.
3. Archaic. a Black African.

Ethiopian

/ ˌiːθɪˈəʊpɪən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Ethiopia, its people, or any of their languages
2. of or denoting a zoogeographical region consisting of Africa south of the Sahara
3. obsolete.
   anthropol of or belonging to a postulated racial group characterized by dark skin, an oval elongated face, and thin lips, living chiefly in Africa south of the Sahara

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Ethiopia
2. any of the languages of Ethiopia, esp Amharic

noun

1. an archaic word for Black

Other Words From

• an·ti-E·thi·o·pi·an adjective noun
• pro-E·thi·o·pi·an adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Ethiopian¹

First recorded in 1545–55; Ethiopi(a) + -an

Example Sentences

She’s also working with the Ethiopian government to better account for the needs of a diverse population by improving the algorithm the country uses to match high school students with colleges.

From Quanta Magazine

After watching a near-biblical swarm of locusts destroy the crops in her Ethiopian village, Kelemu turned to science and changed the world.

From Ozy

Scanning the proposals, Ainuu was chagrined to find another Ethiopian climbing trip among them.

From Outside Online

Fleming is working with Mike Endale, a Washington-based software developer of Ethiopian descent, who has created a software program to cull the names “most likely Ethiopian” from the half-million voters on the voter rolls in DeKalb.

From Ozy

The country’s space ambitions, backed by China’s funds and its satellite launch sites, has seen Ethiopian engineers design the satellites in an initiative co-funded by both countries.

From Quartz

That marked the beginning of a fruitful long-term relationship with his Ethiopian clients.

From The Daily Beast

Co-pilot on Ethiopian Airlines waited until pilot went to the bathroom and locked him out of the cockpit.

From The Daily Beast

Ethiopian Airlines wishes to apologize to its esteemed customers for the inconvenience caused by this diversion.

From The Daily Beast

Ethiopian Airlines issued a statement apologizing for the incident.

From The Daily Beast

Ethiopian Christians, for instance, depicted Christ—and other biblical figures—as Ethiopians.

From The Daily Beast

If the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his spots: you also may do well, when you have learned evil.

From Project Gutenberg

How delightful to avoid the commonplace Pharaohs, Ethiopian princesses, poisoned cups, and all the rest of these dolls tales!

From Project Gutenberg

But the answer came, "Though your face were changed black as an Ethiopian's, yet she would love you!"

From Project Gutenberg

If you were an Ethiopian serenader, you would be a loss to me.

From Project Gutenberg

More than ever did the insidious poison of the Ethiopian preacher of whom mention has been made, come back to his mind.

From Project Gutenberg