Bemba
Americannoun
plural
Bembas,plural
Bemba-
a member of a numerous agricultural people of Zambia.
-
the Bantu language spoken by the Bemba, widely used as a lingua franca in Zambia.
noun
-
a member of a Negroid people of Africa, living chiefly in Zambia on a high infertile plateau
-
the language of this people, belonging to the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family
Etymology
Origin of Bemba
First recorded in 1935–40
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.
The crowd responded, “Kumushi,” the equivalent of home in the local Bemba dialect.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025
During that visit Ms Kaumba had not worn all her carefully curated outfits, so she asked her grandmother - or "Mbuya" in the Bemba language - if she wanted to try them on.
From BBC • Nov. 15, 2024
On Sunday, a congress of the Sacred Union coalition that includes political heavyweights such as Defence Minister Jean Pierre Bemba and Economy Minister Vital Kamerhe, picked Tshisekedi unanimously.
From Reuters • Oct. 1, 2023
“Stop the Rot,” sung in Bemba, criticizes those who still practice witchcraft in Zambia.
From New York Times • May 30, 2023
He heard through Radio Bemba, which is how people are referring to gossip, Radio Big Mouth, that the compound is now a SIM interrogation center.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
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.
