Amharic

[ am-har-ik, ahm-hahr- ]

noun

1. the Semitic language that is the official language of Ethiopia.

adjective

1. of or relating to this language or its speakers.

Amharic

/ æmˈhærɪk /

noun

1. the official language of Ethiopia, belonging to the SE Semitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family

adjective

1. denoting or relating to this language

Word History and Origins

Origin of Amharic¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; Amhar(a) + -ic

Example Sentences

In one example, a two-hour long video with more than 1,000 views, a man speaking Amharic says that anyone married to Tigrayans or Oromos—two major ethnic groups from Ethiopia—are traitors and enemies of the state.

From Time

A document showed that in 2020, the company did not have screening algorithms to find misinformation in Burmese, the language of Myanmar, or hate speech in the Ethiopian languages of Oromo or Amharic.

From Time

“I’ve never been told about carbon monoxide before,” Bekele said, speaking through an interpreter in his native Amharic.

From ProPublica

Asmara, an Amharic word signifying “good pasture place,” is a town of considerable antiquity.

From Project Gutenberg

The Amharic language, soft and musical in itself, derived new melody from the lips of Mr. M——.

From Project Gutenberg

I went up to him, and he made me a bow and said something in Amharic, which it is needless to say I did not understand.

From Project Gutenberg

The chief spoken language is the Amharic; in it some books have been published.

From Project Gutenberg