Sesotho

American

[suh-soo-too, -soh-toh] / səˈsu tu, -ˈsoʊ toʊ /

noun

the Bantu language of Lesotho; Sotho.

Sesotho British

/ sɪˈsuːtuː /

noun

Former name: Basuto. Also called: Southern Sotho. the dialect of Sotho spoken by the Basotho: an official language of Lesotho

"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

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.

It means "forget me not" in the Sesotho language and is also used to say goodbye.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

The name is thought to come from "wafamola", a word in Lesotho's language, Sesotho, meaning "flaring" or "flicking up" of a skirt, a reference to the exuberant way women danced to the music.

From BBC • Apr. 27, 2022

Berger named the site Malapa, a word that in the Sesotho language means “homestead.”

From The New Yorker • Jun. 20, 2016

The species name, H. naledi, refers to the cave where the bones lay undisturbed for so long; “naledi” means “star” in the local Sesotho language.

From New York Times • Sep. 10, 2015

I called a meeting for all the members and it was a lively session — conducted in Sesotho, Zulu, Xhosa, and English.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023