Yoruba
Americannoun
-
Yorubas,
plural
-
Yoruba
plural
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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:
Releasing Yoruba offerings into the gentle waves of the Caribbean sea.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Blending Yoruba, Catholic and mystical traditions, their photos feature jet-black subjects that blend into inky backgrounds, their eyes piercing the darkness as they stare at the viewer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Naomi: We wanted to be with our people and show the real Yoruba, Cuban way of living.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
They describe it as "neither wholly Brazilian nor wholly Yoruba, but entirely its own".
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026
He begins to pray in Yoruba, asking for the blessings of the orishas, whom he honors one by one.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
“Don’t you hear the Yorubas speaking their own language?”
From The Guardian ● Mar. 14, 2019
The Yorubas of the south-west are split between Muslims and Christians and the Igbos of the south-east and neighbouring groups are mostly Christian or follow traditional religions.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2019
In Gusau, there was a sizeable population of ethnic Yorubas from south-western Nigeria, Igbos from the south-east, and thriving Indian and Lebanese communities.
From BBC ● May 18, 2018
The Nigerian government is currently dominated by Christian Yorubas.
From New York Times ● Dec. 24, 2012
Thus the Yorubas hold that every man has three spiritual inmates, of whom the first, called Olori, dwells in the head and is the man’s protector, guardian, and guide.
From The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
