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

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

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

He said he was a member of the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement, an activist organisation advocating for a breakaway state in south-west Nigeria for the Yoruba ethnic group.

From BBC

Some are inspired by Met Gala themes, Yoruba bridal looks or Afrofuturist aesthetics.

From BBC