Nubian
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈnjʉːbiːən/
Nubian noun: a person from the region of Nubia in modern Egypt and Sudan or a descendant of such a person. Also the abbreviation of Nubian goat or Anglo-Nubian goat.
Noun
Nubian (plural Nubians)
- A person from the region of Nubia in modern Egypt and Sudan or a descendant of such a person.
- A person from any of the former states or provinces known as Nubia or a descendant of such a person.
- Synonym of person of color, any person with dark skin, particularly one from Africa.
- Synonyms:
- person of color, any person with dark skin, particularly one from Africa
- A black slave, particularly one from East Africa.
- An Ethiopian Christian, particularly a Tewahedo Orthodox Christian.
- A horse from the region of Nubia or a descendant of such a horse.
- A kind of black dress material.
Adjective
Nubian (comparative more Nubian, superlative most Nubian)
- Of or related to Nubia, its animals, or the Nubian people.
- Of or related to the Nubian group of the Eastern Sudanic language family.
- Synonym of African (“of or related to Africa or dark-skinned people of African descent”).
- Synonyms:
- African
Also used as
Nubian is also the abbreviation of Nubian goat or Anglo-Nubian goat.
Synonyms of Nubian
- person of color
- any person with dark skin
- particularly one from Africa
- African
Forms of Nubian
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | Nubians |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more Nubian |
| superlative | most Nubian |
Origin of Nubian
From Medieval Latin Nubianus directly and via French nubien, from Nubia + -anus (“-an: forming adjectives”), from Nubae (“ancient Nubians”) + -ia (“-ia: forming place names”), from Koine Greek Νοῦβαι (Noûbai), q.v. Equivalent to Nubia + -an or Nuba + -ian.
Words formed from Nubian
- Anglo-Nubian
- Anglo-Nubian goat
- Hill Nubian
- Nubian Desert
- Nubian giraffe
- Nubian goat
- Nubian ibex
- Nubian knot
- Nubian lion
- Nubianness
- Nubian queen
- Nubian woodpecker
- Old Nubian
- Protonubian
- Proto-Nubian
Phrases with Nubian
Questions about Nubian
- What does Nubian mean?
- Nubian means a person from the region of Nubia in modern Egypt and Sudan or a descendant of such a person.
- What part of speech is Nubian?
- Nubian can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce Nubian?
- Nubian is pronounced /ˈnjʉːbiːən/ (Australia).
- What is the plural of Nubian?
- The plural of Nubian is Nubians.
Words near Nubian in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Nubian (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-Nubian.wav.
Cite this entry: “Nubian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nubian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.