Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • A country of western Africa. The site of several powerful states, including the Mali (flourished 14th century) and the Songhai (flourished 15th–16th century), Mali became part of French West Africa in the 19th century and achieved independence in 1960. Bamako is the capital and the largest city.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun Country in Western Africa. Official name: Republic of Mali.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a landlocked republic in northwestern Africa; achieved independence from France in 1960; Mali was a center of West African civilization for more than 4,000 years

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Inherits its name from the Mali Empire, in turn from Mandinka or Bambara mali ("hippopotamus").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Mali.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.