Rhodesia

[roh-dee-zhuh]

noun

1. (asSouthern Rhodesia ) a former British colony in southern Africa: declared independence 1965; name changed to Zimbabwe 1979.

2. a historical region in southern Africa that comprised the British territories of Northern Rhodesia (nowZambia ) and Southern Rhodesia (nowZimbabwe ).

Rhodesia

/ rəʊˈdiːʃə, -zɪə /

noun

1. a former name (1964–79) for Zimbabwe

Rhodesia

1. Former name of Zimbabwe, a nation in southeastern Africa.

Rhodesia was named for Cecil Rhodes, the English industrialist whose British South Africa Company colonized the region at the end of the nineteenth century. He also founded the Rhodes Scholarships for study at Oxford University.

Other Word Forms

• Rhodesian adjective

Example Sentences

Rhodes went on to found De Beers, the diamond-mining behemoth, and became so influential that Rhodesia bore his name before it became Zimbabwe.

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He led the fight against in the 1970s against the white-minority rule of what used to be called Rhodesia - but he was later accused of using violence to win elections and destroying Zimbabwe's economy.

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Furmanovsky grew up in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, before moving to London at the age of 11, which she called a "traumatic change".

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The 75-year-old was born in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and made Edinburgh his home after studying there.

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He put pressure on Rhodesia's white minority government to give up power, but was accused of ignoring the Argentine junta's "disappearances" of its critics.

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