Yoruba

American  

[yawr-uh-buh, yohr-] / ˈyɔr ə bə, ˈyoʊr- /

noun

plural

Yorubas,

plural

Yoruba

1. a member of a numerous West African coastal people.

2. the language of the Yoruba, a Kwa language.

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Yoruba British  

/ ˈjɒrʊbə /

noun

1. a member of a Negroid people of W Africa, living chiefly in the coastal regions of SW Nigeria: noted for their former city states and complex material culture, particularly as evidenced in their music, art, and sculpture

2. the language of this people, belonging to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family

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Other Word Forms

• Yoruban adjective

Example Sentences

He spent time in Ghana absorbing highlife's structure, horn phrasing, and dance-oriented arrangements before fusing it with jazz, funk, the rhythms of his own Yoruba people, and political storytelling.

From BBC

Songs are sung in Lucumí, which comes from the Yoruba language.

From Literature

He came from a long line of wood carvers from the Yoruba people, and took the tradition from his birthplace of Osogbo in the country's south-west to the global art space.

From BBC

According to the exhibition catalog, “Aso Oke” was inspired by the handwoven openwork fabric of Nigeria’s Yoruba people, as well as the drooping fila gobi ceremonial cap worn by Yoruba men.

From The Wall Street Journal

I’ve been doing Yoruba lessons for five years, and only in the last year has it really stuck.

From Los Angeles Times