Ethiopian

American  

[ee-thee-oh-pee-uhn] / ˌi θiˈoʊ pi ən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Ethiopia or to its inhabitants.

2. belonging to the part of Africa south of the equator.

3. Zoogeography. belonging to a geographical division comprising Africa south of the tropic of Cancer, the southern part of Arabia, and Madagascar.

4. Archaic. Black African.

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noun

• Ethiopians
  plural

1. a native of Ethiopia.

2. a member of any of various supposedly dark-skinned peoples regarded by the ancients as coming from a country lying south of Egypt.

3. Archaic. a Black African.

Ethiopian British  

/ ˌiːθɪˈəʊpɪən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Ethiopia, its people, or any of their languages

2. of or denoting a zoogeographical region consisting of Africa south of the Sahara

3. obsolete anthropol of or belonging to a postulated racial group characterized by dark skin, an oval elongated face, and thin lips, living chiefly in Africa south of the Sahara

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noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Ethiopia

2. any of the languages of Ethiopia, esp Amharic

noun

1. an archaic word for Black

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anti-Ethiopian
  adjective
• pro-Ethiopian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Ethiopians
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of Ethiopian

First recorded in 1545–55; Ethiopi(a) + -an

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Ethiopian Ethiopians

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has put his cabinet ministers and other senior government officials through military training, saying armed forces discipline can help build stronger leaders and advance the country's development.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

In a recent interview with private station Fana Television, senior Ethiopian government official Abraham Belay accused Eritrea of direct participation in the conflict.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

All, however, steered well clear of the federal Ethiopian soldiers on guard at the university and the Tigray Martyrs Memorial Monument, which commemorates the TPLF's 16 years of struggle against the Marxist-Leninist Derg government.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

The diplomatic confrontation came hours after powerful explosions were heard overnight in Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, including near Ethiopia's military headquarters.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

Many of the drivers outside the train station were Ethiopian or Punjabi.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The victims, aged between 7 and 46, were mostly Iraqi Kurds, but also included Afghans, Ethiopians and Egyptians.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

DHS first announced it was ending TPS for Ethiopians in December, under then-Secretary Kristi Noem, saying conditions in Ethiopia were safe.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Ahmed, though, is facing growing domestic pressure to reduce the steep prices Ethiopians pay for imports, from food to fuel, which principally come via ports in Djibouti, Somalia, and Kenya.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026

The proportion of Ethiopians who have access to the internet remains quite low, meaning that the country has lagged behind others on the continent in terms of digital transformation.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026

“I tell him,” said Peter, “‘Sir, I ain’t going to fight them Royal Ethiopians.’

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

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