African
Other forms: Africans
If you’re African, you’re from Africa. If you’re African-American, your ancestors are from Africa. African music comes from guess where? African refers to anyone or anything from a country on the African continent.
An African is a person from any African country. Whether you're from Angola, Uganda, Batswana, or any other African country, you're an African. Anything related to Africa can also be called African. African music, for example, has inspired many other genres, like jazz, blues, and good ol’ rock and roll. Since Africa is the home of the earliest humans, we owe a lot to the African continent.
Definitions of African
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a native or inhabitant of Africa
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examples:
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Cleopatra
beautiful and charismatic queen of Egypt; mistress of Julius Caesar and later of Mark Antony; killed herself to avoid capture by Octavian (69-30 BC)
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Hannibal
general who commanded the Carthaginian army in the second Punic War; crossed the Alps and defeated the Romans but was recalled to defend Carthage and was defeated (247-182 BC)
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Hasdrubal
general who commanded a Carthaginian army in Spain; joined his brother Hannibal in Italy and was killed by the Romans at the battle of Metaurus River (died 207 BC)
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types:
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Black African
an African who is Black
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Eurafrican
a person of mixed European and African descent
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Algerian
a native or inhabitant of Algeria
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Angolan
a native or inhabitant of Angola
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Basotho
a member of a subgroup of people who inhabit Lesotho
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Bantu
a member of any of a large number of linguistically related peoples of Central and South Africa
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Beninese
a native or inhabitant of Benin
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Burundian
a native or inhabitant of Burundi
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Cameroonian
a native or inhabitant of Cameroon
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Carthaginian
a native or inhabitant of ancient Carthage
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Chadian
a native or inhabitant of Chad
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Cewa, Chewa, Chichewa
a member of the Bantu-speaking people of Malawi and eastern Zambia and northern Zimbabwe
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Congolese
a native or inhabitant of the Republic of the Congo
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Djiboutian
a native or inhabitant of Djibouti
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Egyptian
a native or inhabitant of Egypt
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Ethiopian
a native or inhabitant of Ethiopia
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Ewe
a member of a people living in southern Benin and Togo and southeastern Ghana
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Fellata, Fula, Fulah, Fulani, Fulbe
a member of a pastoral and nomadic people of western Africa; they are traditionally cattle herders of Muslim faith
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Gabonese
a native or inhabitant of Gabon
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Kenyan
a native or inhabitant of Kenya
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Liberian
a native or inhabitant of Liberia
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Libyan
a native or inhabitant of Libya
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Madagascan
a native or inhabitant of Madagascar
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Malawian
a native or inhabitant of Malawi
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Malian
a native or inhabitant of Mali
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Mauritanian
a native or inhabitant of Mauritania
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Moroccan
a native or inhabitant of Morocco
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Mozambican
a native or inhabitant of Mozambique
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Namibian
a native or inhabitant of Namibia
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Nigerian
a native or inhabitant of Nigeria
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Nigerien
a native or inhabitant of Niger
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Senegalese
a native or inhabitant of Senegal
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Sierra Leonean
a native or inhabitant of Sierra Leone
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South African
a native or inhabitant of South Africa
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Sudanese
a native or inhabitant of Sudan
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Swazi
a member of a southeast African people living in Swaziland and adjacent areas
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Tanzanian
a native or inhabitant of Tanzania
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Togolese
a native or inhabitant of Togo
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Tuareg
a member of a nomadic Berber people of the Sahara
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Tunisian
a native or inhabitant of Tunisia
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Ugandan
a native or inhabitant of Uganda
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Gambian
a native or inhabitant of Gambia
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Ghanian
a native or inhabitant of Ghana
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Guinean
a native or inhabitant of Guinea
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Rwandan
a native or inhabitant of Rwanda
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Somali, Somalian
a member of a tall dark (mostly Muslim) people inhabiting Somalia
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Xhosa
a member of the Negroid people of southern South Africa
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Zairean, Zairese
a native or inhabitant of Zaire
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Zambian
a native or inhabitant of Zambia
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Zimbabwean
a native or inhabitant of Zimbabwe
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Zulu
a member of the tall Negroid people of eastern South Africa; some live in KwaZulu-Natal under the traditional clan system but many now work in the cities
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Berber
a member of an indigenous people of northern Africa
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Afrikander, Afrikaner, Boer
a white native of Cape Province who is a descendant of Dutch settlers and who speaks Afrikaans
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Almoravid
a member of a Muslim dynasty of Berber warriors that flourished from 1049 to 1145 and that established political dominance over northwestern Africa and Spain
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Angolese
a member of the Bantu tribes resident in Angola
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Herero
a member of a pastoral Bantu people living in Namibia, Botswana, and Angola
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Hutu
a member of a Bantu people living in Rwanda and Burundi
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Chiluba, Luba
a member of a Bantu people in southeastern Congo
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Sotho
a member of the Bantu people who inhabit Botswana, Lesotho, and northern South Africa and who speak the Sotho languages
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Batswana, Bechuana, Tswana
a member of a Bantu people living chiefly in Botswana and western South Africa
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Tutsi, Watusi, Watutsi
a member of a Bantu speaking people living in Rwanda and Burundi
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Copt
an Egyptian descended from the ancient Egyptians
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Amhara
a member of the Semitic speaking people of northern Ethiopia
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Eritrean
a native or inhabitant of Eritrea
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Theban
an Egyptian inhabitant of ancient Thebes
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Hausa, Haussa
a member of a Negroid people living chiefly in northern Nigeria
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Edo
a member of a west African people living in the tropical forest region of southern Nigeria
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Igbo
a member of the largest ethnic group in southeastern Nigeria
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Yoruba
a member of a West African people living chiefly in southwestern Nigeria
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Cairene
a native or inhabitant of Cairo
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Nubian
a native or inhabitant of Nubia
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Riff, Riffian
a Berber living in northern Morocco
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Shona
a member of a Bantu tribe living in present-day Zimbabwe
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Cleopatra
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of or relating to the nations of Africa or their peoples“African languages”
Pronunciation
US
/ˈæfrəkən/
UK
/ˈæfrɪkɪn/
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘African'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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