Ndebele
Americannoun
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Also called Matabele. a member of a Nguni people of the Transvaal and Zimbabwe.
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the Bantu language of these people.
noun
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a member of a Negroid people of Zimbabwe See also Matabele
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the language of this people, belonging to the Bantu grouping of the Niger-Congo family
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.
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
Zimbabwe’s state radio and a host of community stations offer broadcasts in Shona, Ndebele and 12 other local languages, he said.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 27, 2023
In her Ndebele language, “no” means “with,” and Violet was the name of her mother, who died when she was 18 months old.
From New York Times • Mar. 2, 2022
Chris speaks English but neither of Zimbabwe's two main local languages, Shona or Ndebele.
From BBC • Jul. 27, 2021
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
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.
