Ndebele
Americannoun
-
Also called Matabele. a member of a Nguni people of the Transvaal and Zimbabwe.
-
the Bantu language of these people.
noun
-
a member of a Negroid people of Zimbabwe See also Matabele
-
the language of this people, belonging to the Bantu grouping 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:
The people in the area today are mostly farmers of the Ndebele ethnic group, whose ancestors migrated from the north in several waves starting about 4000 years ago.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2024
Written and sung in Navajo by Alex Rose Holiday, it features the Anderson trio playing with fierce intensity and Nelisiwe Mtsweni, an Ndebele singer, contributing piercing vocals.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2023
Chris speaks English but neither of Zimbabwe's two main local languages, Shona or Ndebele.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2021
Traditionally, Ndebele women painted colourful geometric patterns on the outside of their homes, often representing important events such as weddings.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 22, 2020
Of the African languages, Zulu has the largest number of native speakers, but we couldn’t keep that without also having Xhosa and Tswana and Ndebele.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
On one side are Prime Minister Robert Mugabe and nearly 6 million members of the Shona tribes; opposing them are Joshua Nkomo, the rival nationalist leader, and the 1.5 million-strong Ndebeles.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some 1,200 of Nkomo's onetime rebels have deserted the armed forces, returning to Matabeleland, homeland of the Ndebeles.
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.
