Akan
Americannoun
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Akans,
plural
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Akan
plural
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a language of the Kwa branch of Niger-Congo spoken in much of Ghana and parts of the Ivory Coast.
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a member of any of various Akan-speaking peoples, including the Ashanti and Fanti.
noun
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a member of a people of Ghana and the E Côte d'Ivoire
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the language of this people, having two chief dialects, Fanti and Twi, and belonging to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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:
"Because chronic stress is a risk factor for dementia, our study reveals a critical mechanism for how stress hormones destabilize this sensitive region," explains Akan.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
The description says it is a metaphorical symbol used by the Akan people of Ghana to express “the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026
“Since you were born on a Tuesday, I’m sure you would not mind the Ghanaian name Abena, the Akan name for all Tuesday born females, to your name,” he said.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 2, 2023
Drawing inspiration from Ghana's rich arts and culture, the cathedral will have a high pitched staggered roof imitating the architecture of the Akan people.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2023
A brief introduction to the principles of the native laws and customs of the Fanti and Akan districts of the Gold Coast with a report of some cases thereon decided in the law courts.
From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Robert Ezra Park
But some matrilocal communities exist today or in the recent past, including the Akans in Ghana, West Africa and Cherokee in North America.
From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2025
The Akans, among whom Busia is a royal prince, are four times as nu merous in Ghana as the Ewe tribe, to which his adversary Gbedemah belongs.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
