Nubian

American  

[noo-bee-uhn, nyoo-] / ˈnu bi ən, ˈnju- /

noun

Nubians plural

1. a member of any of the various peoples inhabiting Nubia.

2. the Nilo-Saharan language of the Nubians.

3. Obsolete. a Nubian slave.

4. a Nubian horse.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Nubia, its people, or their language.

Nubian British  

/ ˈnjuːbɪən /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Nubia, an ancient region of NE Africa

2. the language spoken by the people of Nubia

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adjective

1. of or relating to Nubia or its inhabitants

2. informal of or relating to Black culture

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Nubians
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Nubian

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; Nubia, -an

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Nubian Nubians

Legend has it that the lion-headed figure protected the country from invasions and was worshiped as a god of war in the ancient Nubian kingdoms of Kush.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

Camden Council and the Nubian Jak Community Trust collaborated on the plaque, which is also the first to be put on a place of worship.

From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2024

In 2019, Boston officials approved renaming the square in the historically Black neighborhood of Roxbury to Nubian Square from Dudley Square.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2023

Their tracks, sung in Arabic, English and local Nubian languages, often focus on social issues such as the rights of children to a better future.

From Reuters ● Sep. 27, 2023

Getting out his creased Sidney's, Rick looked up the listings on goats, black Nubian.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

While the religion of the Persians was Zoroastrianism, the empire included people of different religions, including Armenians, Nubians, Libyans, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Ionian Greeks, Bactrians, Judeans, and many others.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

New texts as well as fresh interpretations of writings by the ancient Egyptians continue to appear, requiring, for example, a reassessment of the importance of the Nubians to North African history.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 20, 2015

Dramatic shadows fell on carved images of a heroic Ramses battling the Nubians.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 2, 2015

The goat barn, built of recycled wood, awaits six more Nubians, joined Laverne and Shirley this month.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 15, 2015

This is one of the consequences of the Nubians depending upon the overflow of the Nile to fertilize their soil.

From Our Caughnawagas in Egypt a narrative of what was seen and accomplished by the contingent of North American Indian voyageurs who led the British boat Expedition for the Relief of Khartoum up the Cataracts of the Nile. by Jackson, Louis