Afrikaans
/ˌafɹɪˈkɑːnz//ˌɑːfɹɪˈkɑːnz/
Afrikaans proper noun: a Germanic language descending from Dutch; the primary language of the descendants of Dutch and other European settlers, as well as many mixed-race (e.g. Rehoboth Basters) living in South Africa and in Namibia. Also, one of the eleven official languages of South Africa and until 1990 one of three official languages of Namibia.
Proper noun
Afrikaans
- A Germanic language descending from Dutch; the primary language of the descendants of Dutch and other European settlers, as well as many mixed-race (e.g. Rehoboth Basters) living in South Africa and in Namibia. Also, one of the eleven official languages of South Africa and until 1990 one of three official languages of Namibia.
- Some of the most contentious issues included the clear threat the Bill posed for the future of single-medium Afrikaans schools, a minority language in South Africa, and also a language often attacked and targeted by populist politicians.2025 November, “The World Must Know”, in AfriForum, archived from the original on 08 Dec 2025, page 6
Noun
Afrikaans (plural Afrikaans)
- A person from South Africa or Namibia who speaks Afrikaans. (More properly called "Afrikaans people" or Afrikaners.)
- Synonyms:
- Afrikaner
Adjective
Afrikaans (not comparable)
- Of or pertaining to the Afrikaans language.
Afrikaans meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
Afrikaans in Hindi
- language
- अफ़्रीकान्स afrīkāns, अफ़्रीकान्स भाषा afrīkāns bhāṣā
Afrikaans in Marathi
- language
- आफ्रिकान्स āphrikānsa
Afrikaans in Urdu
- language
- ایفریکان aifrīkān, افریکان afrīkān, ایفریکانس aifrīkāns, ایفریکانز aifrīkānz
Afrikaans in Bengali
- language
- আফ্রিকান্স ভাষা aphrikanśo bhaśa
More languagesFewer languages
- Afrikaans in Malayalam
- ആഫ്രിക്കാൻസ് āphrikkāṉsŭ
- Afrikaans in Gujarati
- આફ્રીકી āphrīkī
- Afrikaans in Nepali
- अफ्रिकाली aphrikālī
- Afrikaans in Tagalog
- Afrikaans
- Afrikaans in Arabic
- لُغَة أَفْرِيكَانِيَّة
- Afrikaans in Malay
- Afrikaans
- Afrikaans in Indonesian
- Afrikans
- Afrikaans in Persian
- آفریکانس âfrikâns, آفریکانز âfrikânz, زبان آفریکانس zabân-e âfrikâns, زبان آفریکانز zabân-e âfrikânz
- Afrikaans in Thai
- ภาษาแอฟริคานส์ paasăa aefáríkaan
- Afrikaans in Vietnamese
- Afrikaans, tiếng Afrikaans, tiếng Hà Lan ở Kếp, tiếng Nam Phi
Synonyms of Afrikaans
Forms of Afrikaans
| Proper noun | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Africaans |
| alternative form | Afrikaansch |
| Noun | |
| plural | Afrikaans |
Origin of Afrikaans
Borrowed from Afrikaans Afrikaans (“African”) itself from earlier Dutch Afrikaansch (“African”).
Words formed from Afrikaans
Questions about Afrikaans
- What does Afrikaans mean?
- Afrikaans means a Germanic language descending from Dutch; the primary language of the descendants of Dutch and other European settlers, as well as many mixed-race (e.g. Rehoboth Basters) living in South Africa and in Namibia. Also, one of the eleven official languages of South Africa and until 1990 one of three official languages of Namibia.
- What is Afrikaans in Hindi?
- Afrikaans in Hindi is अफ़्रीकान्स (afrīkāns), अफ़्रीकान्स भाषा (afrīkāns bhāṣā). See Afrikaans meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is Afrikaans?
- Afrikaans can be a proper noun, a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce Afrikaans?
- Afrikaans is pronounced /ˌafɹɪˈkɑːnz/ (UK).
Words near Afrikaans in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Afrikaans (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-Afrikaans.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Afrikaans.wav.
Cite this entry: “Afrikaans.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/afrikaans. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.