Bantu

Meaning

1. (countable) A member of any of the African ethnic groups that speak a Bantu language.
2. (uncountable) The largest African language family of the Niger-Congo group, spoken in much of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Synonyms

Bantoid language

𐐒𐐰𐑌𐐻𐐭

Translations

bantou

bantú

Bantou

Bantoe

bantu

Bantu

البانتو

Bantu

Bantoe-

Μπαντού

bantu

Civiltà Bantu

bantûyî

Bantous

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈbæntu/

Etymology

Borrowed from Proto-Bantu *bàntʊ̀ pl (“people”), as reconstructed by the 19th-century linguist Wilhelm Bleek.