African
/ˈæf.ɹɪ.kən/
African adjective: of or pertaining to Africa.
Adjective
African (comparative more African, superlative most African)
- Of or pertaining to Africa.
- Spain’s Melilla, one of two small exclaves of EU land on the African continent, has long been the strongest distillation of fortress Europe.2022 March 10, Daniel Howden, “Europe has rediscovered compassion for refugees – but only if they’re white”, in The Guardian
- Black; (dated, offensive) synonym of negroid.
- The truth is that I know the guy had African skin and a shirt of some sort.
- In vivo and in vitro approaches in understanding the differences between Caucasian and African skin types: […]2013, Stem Cells—Advances in Research and Application: 2013 Edition, ScholarlyEditions, →ISBN, page 311
Noun
African (plural Africans)
- A native of Africa; also one ethnologically belonging to an African race.
- Africans constitute significantly growing populations not only in major urban centers such as New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, and Atlanta but also in small and midsize cities in states such as Ohio and Maine.2007, African Immigrant Religions in America, →ISBN
- But new research suggests another possibility: all Africans may have ancestry from “West Eurasian” populations which moved back into Africa after the “Out of Africa” event ~50,000 years ago.[…]2019, Razib Khan, Arabia between Africa and Eurasia
African meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
African in Hindi
- of or pertaining to Africa
- अफ़्रीकी afrīkī, हब्शी habśī
- a native of Africa
- अफ़्रीकी afrīkī, हब्शी habśī
African in Marathi
- of or pertaining to Africa
- आफ्रिकन āphrikan
African in Urdu
- of or pertaining to Africa
- اَفْرِیقی afrīqī
- a native of Africa
- اَفْرِیقی afrīqī
African in Bengali
- of or pertaining to Africa
- আফ্রিকান aphrikan
- a native of Africa
- আফ্রিকান aphrikan
More languagesFewer languages
- African in Telugu
- ఆఫ్రికను āphrikanu
- African in Kannada
- ಆಫ್ರಿಕಾ ಖಂಡದವನು, ಆಫ್ರಿಕಾ ಖಂಡದವಳು
- African in Odia
- ଆଫ୍ରିକୀୟ āphrikiya
- African in Pashto
- افريقايي afriqāyi
- African in Tagalog
- Aprikahin
- African in Arabic
- إِفْرِيقِيّ ʔifrīqiyy, أَفْرِيقِيّ ʔafrīqiyy, إِفْرِيقِيَّة ʔifrīqiyya
- African in Thai
- แอฟริกา ɛ́p-frí-gaa
- African in Vietnamese
- Châu Phi, Phi Châu, người châu Phi, người Phi châu
- African in Myanmar
- အာဖရိက ahpa.ri.ka., အာဖရိကန် ahpa.ri.kan, အာဖရိကတိုက်သူ ahpa.ri.ka.tuiksu
Synonyms of African
Forms of African
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more African |
| superlative | most African |
| alternative sometimes | Afrikan |
| alternative poetic (archaic) | Afric |
| Noun | |
| plural | Africans |
Origin of African
Attested as a noun in early New English Aphricane, Africans (plural), Middle English as Affrican, Aufrican and Old English as Africanas (“Africans”) (only plural). From Latin āfricānae, from āfricānus, from Āfricus. The adjective appears in the 16th century, as Affricane, Africane, African. Latin Āfricus is from Āfri (singular Āfer), the name of an ancient people of North Africa (near Carthage, in Tunisia), with the suffix -icus. āfricānus is formed by addition of the -ānus suffix. By surface analysis, Africa + -an.
Words formed from African
- Africanism
- Affrilachia
- Affrilachian
- Afrabian
- African-American
- African angelshark
- African anteater
- African baobab
- African barbet
- African bee
- African blackwood
- African boxthorn
- African broadbill
- African buffalo
- African bullfrog
- African cardamom
- African cherry orange
- African civet
- African crake
- African crested porcupine
- African custard apple
- African cypress
- African dwarf sawshark
- African elephant
- African emerald cuckoo
- African English
- Africanesque
- Africaness
- Africanfuturism
- African ginger
- African glass catfish
- African golden cat
- African golden wolf
- African golf
- African harrier-hawk
- African helmeted turtle
- African hemp
- African hobby
- African hoopoe
- African horse sickness
- African hunting dog
- Africanisation
- Africanise
- Africanish
- Africanist
- Africanity
- Africanization
- Africanize
- African jack
- Africanjujuism
- African Latin
- African lethargy
- African-like
- Africanlike
- African lily
- African linden
- African linsang
- African Lion Dog
- African lioness
- African Lion Hound
Phrases with African
- African Eve
- African oak
- African rue
- African Eves
- African lion
- African lynx
- African pear
- African teak
- African Time
- African wolf
- East African
- Horn African
149 more phrasesFewer phrases
- West African
- African black
- African daisy
- African lions
- African mango
- African myrrh
- African peach
- African snail
- African teaks
- African Union
- North African
- South African
- African civets
- African crakes
- African jacana
- African lilies
- African lynxes
- African mangos
- African medlar
- African millet
- African nutmeg
- African violet
- African walnut
- African baobabs
- African barbets
- African daisies
- African hobbies
- African jacanas
- African manatee
- African massage
- African nutmegs
- African peaches
- African penguin
- African Romance
- African skimmer
- African unicorn
- African violets
- African walnuts
- African warbler
- African wildcat
- African Zionism
- Central African
- African American
- African blue tit
- African buffalos
- African Bush Dog
- African linsangs
- African lungfish
- African mahogany
- African manatees
- African marigold
- African massages
- African openbill
- African pearwood
- African penguins
- African rosewood
- African sand fox
- African skimmers
- African unicorns
- African warblers
- African wild ass
- African wild dog
- African wildcats
- African wormwood
- Southern African
- African Americans
- African anteaters
- African blue tits
- African boxthorns
- African bullfrogs
- African Bush Dogs
- African elephants
- African Englishes
- African marigolds
- African milk tree
- African openbills
- African rosewoods
- African Shorthair
- African toothache
- African whitewood
- African wild dogs
- African wormwoods
- City Road African
- African broadbills
- African dream herb
- African fish eagle
- African mahoganies
- African net sponge
- African palm civet
- African pygmy goat
- African rhinoceros
- African sand foxes
- African Shorthairs
- African sugar cane
- African toothaches
- African wild asses
- East African cedar
- African angelsharks
- African clawed frog
- African golden cats
- African locust bean
- African milk barrel
- African net sponges
- African palm civets
- African pygmy geese
- African pygmy goats
- African pygmy goose
- African sacred ibis
- African wild donkey
- African Barkless Dog
- African clawed frogs
- African hunting dogs
- African locust beans
- African mole cricket
- African painted frog
- African wild donkeys
- West African manatee
- African Barkless Dogs
- African crowned eagle
- African harrier-hawks
- African mole crickets
- African painted frogs
- African sacred ibises
- South African English
- South African ostrich
- West African manatees
- African cherry oranges
- African crowned eagles
- African custard apples
- African traditionalist
- Central African Empire
- North African elephant
- South African Republic
- African dwarf sawsharks
- African emerald cuckoos
- African forest elephant
- African glass catfishes
- African spotted creeper
- African sugarcane borer
- African traditionalists
- African trypanosomiasis
- Ankole African mole-rat
- East African Federation
- North African elephants
- African forest elephants
- African helmeted turtles
- African spotted creepers
- African spurred tortoise
- African sugarcane borers
Questions about African
- What does African mean?
- African means of or pertaining to Africa.
- What is African in Hindi?
- African in Hindi is अफ़्रीकी (afrīkī), हब्शी (habśī). See African meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is African?
- African can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce African?
- African is pronounced /ˈæf.ɹɪ.kən/.
Words near African in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: African (page history and authors); african (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-African.wav.
Cite this entry: “African.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/african. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.