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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.


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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a native or inhabitant of Ethiopia

  2. any of the languages of Ethiopia, esp Amharic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. an archaic word for Black

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of Ethiopian

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Ayana had an Eritrean mother and an Ethiopian father who fled the war between their two countries and were admitted to the United States.

From Barron's Sep. 10, 2026

"Bringing together groups with contending understandings of the Ethiopian state, for the first time ever, itself has been a successful exercise," said Alamrew Yirdaw, a participant from the Amhara region.

From Barron's Aug. 31, 2026

The Ethiopian authorities' 2019 report suggested the pilots followed steps to disengage the system, but even after manually trying to steady the plane, the system pushed the nose down until the aircraft crashed.

From BBC Aug. 13, 2026

Amanuel told AFP that he wants to form alliances with anyone fighting the Ethiopian federal government, but gave no further details.

From Barron's Aug. 11, 2026

The men were dressed in expensive dashikis, and the women wore long classical Ethiopian gowns.

From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer

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

A video of the unlikely couple, recorded by a nurse at Denbecha Primary Hospital in the Amhara region, racked up 770,000 views on TikTok, with many Ethiopians struck by Markos' compassion.

From BBC Jun. 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

However, it is not yet known whether Ethiopians were cultivating these local plants before or only after the arrival of the Southwest Asian package.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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