Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A Bantu language of the coast and islands of eastern Africa from Somalia to Mozambique. It is an official language of Tanzania and is widely used as a lingua franca in eastern and east-central Africa.
- noun An inhabitant of coastal eastern Africa for whom Swahili is the mother tongue.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- proper noun An
agglutinative language widely spoken in East Africa. Born of the hybridization of theArabic andBantu cultures, it was the language of the traders in East Africa, and spread along the routes of trade.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun 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
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Alternatively — and the most probable scenario — the first shape is a loan in Swahili from a language in which Dahl's Law operated longer, the Wami being one such group.
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The very word Swahili came from the Arabic word sawahil, meaning “coast.”
Kahawa Westlake, Donald E. 1982
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She was a thin Swahili woman with a serious face, a widow.
The Laugh T 2009
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The instructions, although in Swahili, roughly translate to 'Do you have a question about health?
3 Blogs in 1: Lucky You! KateG 2009
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But when it comes to proving that the diminutive Ghailani (friends called him Foupi, meaning "the little one" in Swahili), actually intended to participate in the bombing plot, that's where the government may have a harder time.
Daphne Eviatar: Former Gitmo Prisoner's Trial Continues, as Child Soldier's is Postponed Daphne Eviatar 2010
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The instructions, although in Swahili, roughly translate to 'Do you have a question about health?
Archive 2009-05-01 KateG 2009
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For about 2 hours we read health magazines in Swahili, told jokes, and even practiced some English.
Archive 2009-03-01 KateG 2009
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Upendo is a word in Swahili that means like or love.
3 Blogs in 1: Lucky You! KateG 2009
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Pingback: Global Voices in Swahili » Global Pulse 2010: Mwaliko wa kuzungumza na watoa uamuzi mtandaoni
Global Voices in English » Egypt: Obama to Address Muslim World from Egypt 2009
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Upendo is a word in Swahili that means like or love.
Archive 2009-05-01 KateG 2009
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