Swahili
Americannoun
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a member of a Bantu people of Zanzibar and the neighboring coast of Africa.
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Also Kiswahili or ki-Swahili the Bantu language of the Swahili people, used also as a lingua franca in Tanzania, Kenya, and parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
noun
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Also called: Kiswahili. a language of E Africa that is an official language of Kenya and Tanzania and is widely used as a lingua franca throughout E and central Africa. It is a member of the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family, originally spoken in Zanzibar, and has a large number of loan words taken from Arabic and other languages
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Also called: Mswahili. Waswahili. a member of a people speaking this language, living chiefly in Zanzibar
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Swahili
First recorded in 1810–15; from Swahili, from Arabic sawāḥiliy “of or pertaining to the coast,” equivalent to sawāḥil, plural of sāḥil “coast” + -iy adjective and noun suffix
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:
Today, it is common to hear Swahili spoken in the valley rather than the Hadzabe language.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
Shakespeare has resonated with audiences in Swedish, Swahili and beyond.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
He arrived with the ability to speak three languages — French, Swahili and Lingala.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
Victor, Mark, Erik and Moses were included in WhatsApp groups where fellow Kenyans reassured them in Swahili that they were heading for good salaries and exciting new lives.
From Barron's ● Feb. 9, 2026
A man shouted in Swahili, “You are driving the wrong way!”
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
He suspected from this that they were some of the Swahilis of the party, and suspicion became certainty when Bill discovered a tiny strip of white cotton on a spike of a wait-a-bit thorn-bush.
From Settlers and Scouts by Strang, Herbert
They were followed by the camp servants in long, white robes, Beira-boys and Swahilis, driving before them a little flock of sheep.
From Sacrifice by Whitman, Stephen French
Four of the Swahilis were askaris, or armed porters.
From Settlers and Scouts by Strang, Herbert
“Ready?” asked he of the President, and proceeded with great patience, skill and knowledge of languages and dialects, to interpret the statements of Wadegos, Swahilis, Arabs, and assorted Africans.
From Cupid in Africa by Wren, P. C.
Twelve of the new company were Swahilis, the remainder Wakamba or Wakikuyu.
From Settlers and Scouts by Strang, Herbert
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.
