Abyssinian
Americanadjective
-
relating to Abyssinia or its people or culture.
-
belonging to a breed of short-haired tabby cat whose individual hairs have bands of different colors.
noun
-
Abyssinians
plural
-
a native or inhabitant of Abyssinia.
-
a breed of short-haired tabby cat whose individual hairs are marked with bands of different colors.
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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:
According to Belafonte, they arranged a meeting in the basement of Abyssinian Baptist Church, where King told him he was almost out of money to fund the Montgomery Bus Boycott and asked for help.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026
Based in Harlem, Abyssinian became a famous megachurch with the political rise of the Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. perhaps the most influential of the many men who have led the congregation.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 15, 2024
The two men’s return to office is not “resurrecting democracy,” said the Rev. Earle Fisher, a Memphis civil rights activist and senior pastor of Gifts of Abyssinian Baptist Church.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 16, 2023
And it culminated in Talley’s professional home, New York City, during Black History Month, with a performance by the gospel choir from Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church — Talley’s home congregation.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 11, 2023
Abyssinian was a big church too, but they’d line up along 128th Street to get into Metropolitan like it was a rock concert.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
Tony-winner André De Shields described being in The Abyssinians as an "opportunity of returning to one's ancient culture" and an illustration of "the power of art to transform lives".
From BBC ● Jan. 3, 2025
Soon after they left, some of the sailors began to have doubts about the "Abyssinians".
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2018
Patti still writes to Rough Trade, and the latest word is, she and Lenny still love the Abyssinians, and they still love Rough Trade.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 19, 2013
Abyssinians, purported to be the sacred cats of ancient Egypt, are strong, wildly willful, almost impossible to discipline.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Abyssinians have preserved that antique type of Christianity which had Jewish usages; they had their own literature, alphabet, and old type of civilisation.
From Degeneracy Its Causes, Signs and Results by Eugene S. Talbot
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
