Hausa
Americannoun
-
a member of an Indigenous people of northern Nigeria and southern Niger whose culture has been strongly influenced by Islam.
-
the language of the Hausa people, belonging to the Chadic branch of the Afroasiatic family, widely used in Africa as a language of commerce.
noun
-
a member of a Negroid people of W Africa, living chiefly in N Nigeria
-
the language of this people: the chief member of the Chadic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages. It is widely used as a trading language throughout W Africa and the S Sahara
Other Word 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.
With some 80 million speakers of the north's Hausa language spread across west and central Africa -- not to mention the vast Nigerian diaspora around the world -- Kannywood's potential market is huge.
From Barron's • Jan. 9, 2026
Most Nigerian films on major streamers like Netflix and Amazon Prime are from the country's richer south, where Hausa is a minority language.
From Barron's • Jan. 9, 2026
It is linked to the Islamic State group and has emphasised more moderate messaging in comparison to Boko Haram and proselytises in Hausa and other local languages to attract recruits.
From BBC • Nov. 27, 2025
The area has now been dubbed "Karkashin Gada", which in the Hausa language means “Under the Bridge”.
From BBC • Aug. 16, 2024
A general with a strong Hausa accent came on and announced that there had been a coup and that we had a new government.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
