Swahili

American  

[swah-hee-lee] / swɑˈhi li /

noun

Swahilis plural

1. a member of a Bantu people of Zanzibar and the neighboring coast of Africa.

2. 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.

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Swahili British  

/ swɑːˈhiːlɪ /

noun

1. 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

2. Also called: Mswahili.   Waswahili.  a member of a people speaking this language, living chiefly in Zanzibar

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Swahilis or their language

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Swahilian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

noun

• Swahilis
  plural
• Swahili
  plural

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

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

She might have been talking Swahili for all Gilly could understand.

From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson