Word.ws English Dictionary

Ethiopian

Syllables: E·thi·o·pi·an/ˌiː.θiˈəʊ.pɪ.ən/US/ˌi.θiˈoʊ.pi.ən/

Ethiopian noun: a person from Ethiopia or of Ethiopian descent.

Noun

Ethiopian (plural Ethiopians)

  1. A person from Ethiopia or of Ethiopian descent.
    • Ahmed was also appreciated for his talents as a showman, because he had no equal in letting loose the famous eskista, with the heaving quiver of the torso and shoulders, of which Ethiopians are so fond. Eskista is the dance of the Amharas, enhancing amorous repartee and expressing collective...2002 August 1, Frank Tenaille, Music is the Weapon of the Future: Fifty Years of African Popular Music, →ISBN, page 168
    • So why is Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country, seven years and eight months “behind” much of the rest of the world? And how does that work for Ethiopians living on an increasingly interconnected planet that mostly operates in an entirely different era?2024 June 16, Tamara Hardingham-Gill, “The country where it’s still 2016”, in CNN
  2. (dated) A black-skinned person, especially one from Africa.
    • The Ethiopian eunuch.
  3. (derogatory, slang) A very skinny person, referencing the historic malnutrition and poverty in Ethiopia.

Adjective

Ethiopian (comparative more Ethiopian, superlative most Ethiopian)

  1. Of, from, or pertaining to Ethiopia, the Ethiopian people or the Ethiopian culture.
    • One of Ethiopia's most popular traditional dances, eskista, which is said to have originated from the lower highlands of Ethiopia's Amhara region, exemplifies the type of multi-functionality that Martin (1967) acknowledges as it is performed in many different settings of the Ethiopian community.2018 February 20, Adesola Akinleye, Narratives in Black British Dance: Embodied Practices, →ISBN, page 195
    • A local official, Habtamu Fetena, had earlier told state-run broadcaster, the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) that children were among the dead and the death toll was likely to increase.2024 July 23, Nimi Princewill, Mek Tekeste and Louis Mian, “More than 200 dead in southern Ethiopia landslides”, in CNN
    Synonyms:
    Ethiopic
  2. (dated, not comparable) Of, from, or pertaining to Africa and the African diaspora.
    • Any person of color recognized his Ethiopian heritage immediately. That nose, those lips, good hair or no.2016, Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad, Fleet (2017), page 314

Ethiopian meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Punjabi

Ethiopian in Hindi

person
हब्शी habśī, हबशी habśī, हबसी habsī, हबशिन habśin
of, from, or pertaining to Ethiopia
हब्शी habśī, हबशी habśī, हबसी habsī, हबशिन habśin

Ethiopian in Marathi

person
इथियोपियन ithiyopiyan
of, from, or pertaining to Ethiopia
इथियोपियन ithiyopiyan

Ethiopian in Bengali

person
হাবশী habśī
of, from, or pertaining to Ethiopia
হাবশী habśī

Ethiopian in Punjabi

person
ਇਥੋਪੀਆਈ ithopīāī
of, from, or pertaining to Ethiopia
ਇਥੋਪੀਆਈ ithopīāī
More languagesFewer languages
Ethiopian in Tagalog
Etiyope
Ethiopian in Malay
Habsyi

Synonyms of Ethiopian

Forms of Ethiopian

Noun
pluralEthiopians
alternative form (archaic)Æthiopian
Adjective
comparativemore Ethiopian
superlativemost Ethiopian

Origin of Ethiopian

From Ethiopia + -an.

Words formed from Ethiopian

Phrases with Ethiopian

Questions about Ethiopian

What does Ethiopian mean?
Ethiopian means a person from Ethiopia or of Ethiopian descent.
What is Ethiopian in Hindi?
Ethiopian in Hindi is हब्शी (habśī), हबशी (habśī), हबसी (habsī). See Ethiopian meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is Ethiopian?
Ethiopian can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce Ethiopian?
Ethiopian is pronounced /ˌiː.θiˈəʊ.pɪ.ən/ (UK).
What is the plural of Ethiopian?
The plural of Ethiopian is Ethiopians.

Words near Ethiopian in the dictionary

  1. ethiopathogenic
  2. ethiopathological
  3. ethiopathology
  4. Ethiope
  5. Ethiopia
  6. Ethiopian
  7. Ethiopian cardamom
  8. Ethiopian Catholic
  9. Ethiopian Catholics
  10. Ethiopian cross
  11. Ethiopian crosses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Ethiopian (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-Ethiopian.wav.

Cite this entry: “Ethiopian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ethiopian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.