Yoruba
Americannoun
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a member of a numerous West African coastal people.
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the language of the Yoruba, a Kwa language.
noun
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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
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the language of this people, belonging to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family
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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.
These customs fused with those of Nigeria's Yoruba people, leading to creations like the Fanti Carnival.
From BBC • Apr. 7, 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
Over time, Yoruba religious systems evolved into what we now call Lucumí or La Regla de Ocha, incorporating new layers of meaning while retaining their ancestral backbone.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 2, 2025
She was not an Igbo woman; Ugwu could tell from her name, even if he had not once run into her and her housegirl at the market and heard them both speaking rapid incomprehensible Yoruba.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
