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
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:
Traditional Hausa society stresses background checks on lineage, morality and family reputation before marriage.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 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
One inconsolable father, whose daughter is still being held captive, told BBC Hausa that his family had been crying non-stop and "it's hard to go back home and look at their faces".
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025
In response, Nigeria's National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, told BBC Hausa that the allegations were "baseless" and "false".
From BBC ● Dec. 27, 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
Goodluck Jonathan – who served from 2010 to 2015 – had a relatively balanced team of two ethnic Fulanis, two Hausas, one Atyap, one Igbo, one Yoruba and one Calabar.
From BBC ● May 26, 2025
"The Hausas have long struggled with alienation… and they tired of being called foreigners," says researcher Mohamed Ahmed, an expert on communities in Sudan with West African ties.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2022
It gave rise to the authorities' belief that these communities, including the Hausas, were behind the opposition protests - and some of them were expelled from Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2022
Then, tired but fulfilled, the Hausas drifted back to their homes and bar racks to get some breakfast and sleep.
From Time Magazine Archive
On the route from Duala to Lake Chad is the large commercial town of Ngaundere, inhabited chiefly by Hausas and occupied by the Germans in 1901.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 1 "Calhoun" to "Camoens" by Various
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.
