Bantu Hear it!

Bantu definition

Bantu (ban′to̵̅o̅′; also, ban to̵̅o̅′)

noun

  1. a group of more than 200 languages belonging to the Niger-Congo language subfamily, including Swahili, Xhosa, and Zulu
  2. pl. Bantus -·tus or Bantu -·tu a member of any of the Bantu-speaking peoples living throughout the S half of the African continent

Etymology: Bantu ba-ntu, the men < ba, var. of aba, pl. prefix + -ntu, man: coined (1850s) by W. H. I. Bleek, librarian of the Brit gov. of the Cape Colony

adjective

of the Bantus or their languages or cultures

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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