Yoruba
Americannoun
plural
Yorubas,plural
Yoruba-
a member of a numerous West African coastal people.
-
the language of the Yoruba, a Kwa language.
noun
-
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
-
the language of this people, belonging to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family
Other Word Forms
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.
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 • Jan. 29, 2026
"The sacred grove, which is now seen as a symbol of identity for all Yoruba people, is probably the last in Yoruba culture," it adds.
From BBC • Jan. 19, 2026
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 • Dec. 22, 2025
Lucumí is an Afro-Caribbean religion with roots in Yoruba cosmology, formed and sustained by enslaved Africans in Cuba as an act of resistance and remembrance.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 2, 2025
Songs are sung in Lucumí, which comes from the Yoruba language.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
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.
