Sesotho

American

[suh-soo-too, -soh-toh] / səˈsu tu, -ˈsoʊ toʊ /

noun

the Bantu language of Lesotho; Sotho.

Sesotho British

/ sɪˈsuːtuː /

noun

Former name: Basuto. Also called: Southern Sotho. the dialect of Sotho spoken by the Basotho: an official language of Lesotho

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

It means "forget me not" in the Sesotho language and is also used to say goodbye.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

Haufi nyana? meaning "too close?" in Sesotho, one of South Africa's official languages, explores and reimagines notions of home, belonging, heritage and identity.

From BBC • May 16, 2024

Berger named the site Malapa, a word that in the Sesotho language means “homestead.”

From The New Yorker • Jun. 20, 2016

The species name, H. naledi, refers to the cave where the bones lay undisturbed for so long; “naledi” means “star” in the local Sesotho language.

From New York Times • Sep. 10, 2015

On the afternoon of the first day, the charter was read aloud, section by section, to the people in English, Sesotho, and Xhosa.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023