African

See also: african and Afričan

English

Alternative forms

• Afrikan (sometimes used in AAVE)
• Afric (poetic, archaic)

Etymology

Attested as a noun in early New English Aphricane, Africans (plural), Middle English as Affrican, Aufrican and Old English as Africanas (“Africans”) (only plural). From Latin Āfricānae, from Āfricānus, from Āfricus. The adjective appears in the 16th century, as Affricane, Africane, African.

Latin Āfricus is from Āfri (singular Āfer), the name of an ancient people of North Africa (near Carthage, in modern Tunisia), with the suffix -icus. Africānus is formed by addition of the -ānus suffix.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæf.ɹɪ.kən/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Adjective

African (comparative more African, superlative most African)

1. Of or pertaining to Africa.
2. Black; (dated) synonym of negroid.

   The truth is that I know the guy had African skin and a shirt of some sort.

   • 2013, Stem Cells—Advances in Research and Application: 2013 Edition, ScholarlyEditions (→ISBN), page 311:

     In vivo and in vitro approaches in understanding the differences between Caucasian and African skin types: […]

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:African.

Hyponyms

• Maghrebi
• Congolese
• Ethiopian
• Ugandan
• Zimbabwean
• Mozambican

Derived terms

Derived terms

• African-American
• African anteater
• African buffalo
• African cherry orange
• African crake
• African elephant (Loxodonta africana or L. cyclotis)
• Africanesque
• African hemp (Sparrmannia africana)
• African horse sickness
• African hunting dog
• Africanity
• Africanlike
• African Lily
• African linden (Sparrmannia africana)

• African marigold (Tagetes erecta)
• African oak (Oldfieldia africana)
• African penguin (Spheniscus demersus)
• African swine fever virus
• African teak
• African time
• African Union
• African violet (Saintpaulia spp.)
• Central African
• Central African Republic
• East African
• North African
• South African

Translations

of or pertaining to Africa

• Albanian: afrikan (sq) m
• Arabic: إِفْرِيقِيّ‎ (ʾifrīqiyy), أَفْرِيقِيّ‎ (ʾafrīqiyy)
• Armenian: աֆրիկական (afrikakan), աֆրիկյան (afrikyan)
• Asturian: africanu (ast)
• Azerbaijani: afrikalı
• Belarusian: афрыка́нскі (afrykánski)
• Bengali: আফ্রীকী (afrīkī)
• Bulgarian: африка́нски (afrikánski)
• Burmese: အာဖရိက (ahpa.ri.ka.)
• Catalan: africà (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 非洲的 (zh) (Fēizhōu de)

• Czech: africký (cs)
• Danish: afrikansk (da)
• Dutch: Afrikaans (nl)
• Estonian: Aafrika (et)
• Faroese: afrikanskur
• Finnish: afrikkalainen (fi)
• French: africain (fr)
• Galician: africano (gl)
• Georgian: აფრიკული (apriḳuli)
• German: afrikanisch (de)
• Greek: αφρικανικός (el) (afrikanikós)
• Hawaiian: ʻApelika
• Hebrew: אַפְרִיקַאי‎ (he) (afrikái)
• Hindi: अफ़्रीकी (hi) (afrīkī), हब्शी m (habśī)
• Hungarian: afrikai (hu)
• Icelandic: afrískur (is)
• Ido: Afrikana (io)
• Irish: Afracach
• Italian: africano (it)
• Japanese: アフリカの (ja) (Afurika no)
• Kazakh: африкалық (afrïkalıq)
• Khmer: អាហ្វ្រិក (ʼaafrɨk)
• Korean: 아프리카의 (ko) (apeurikaui)
• Kyrgyz: африкалык (ky) (afrikalıq)
• Lao: ອາຟຣິກກາ (lo) (ʼāp rik kā)

• Latin: Afer, Africus (la), Africanus
• Latvian: afrikāņu, afrikānis
• Lithuanian: afrikiečių, afrikietiškas (lt)
• Macedonian: африкански (afrikanski)
• Marathi: आफ्रिकन (āphrikana)
• Mongolian: африк (afrik)
• Norwegian: afrikansk (no)
• Occitan: african
• Oriya: ଆଫ୍ରିକୀୟ (aphrikiyô)
• Pashto: افريقايي‎ (afriqāyí)
• Persian: آفریقایی‎ (fa) (âfriqâyi)
• Polish: afrykański (pl)
• Portuguese: africano (pt)
• Romanian: african (ro)
• Russian: африка́нский (ru) (afrikánskij)
• Scottish Gaelic: Afragach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: а̀фричкӣ, афрѝка̄нскӣ

  Roman: àfričkī (sh), afrìkānskī (sh)

• Sicilian: africanu, fricanu (apheretic, obsolete)
• Slovak: africký (sk)
• Slovene: afriški (sl)
• Spanish: africano (es)
• Swahili: mwafrika (sw)
• Swedish: afrikansk (sv)
• Tagalog: Aprikahin
• Tajik: африқоӣ (afriqoyī)
• Telugu: ఆఫ్రికను (āphrikanu)
• Thai: แอฟริกา (th) (ɛ́p-frí-gaa)
• Turkish: Afrikalı (tr)
• Turkmen: afrikaly
• Ukrainian: африка́нський (uk) (afrykánsʹkyj)
• Uyghur: ئافرىقىلىق‎ (ug) (afriqiliq)
• Uzbek: afrikalik (uz)
• Vietnamese: Châu Phi, Phi Châu (dated)
• Volapük: Frikopik (vo), (obsolete) Fikopik
• Welsh: Affricanaidd
• Yiddish: אַפֿריקאַניש‎ (afrikanish)

language — see Afrikaans

Noun

African (plural Africans)

1. A native of Africa; also one ethnologically belonging to an African race.
   • 2007, African Immigrant Religions in America →ISBN:

     Africans constitute significantly growing populations not only in major urban centers such as New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, and Atlanta but also in small and midsize cities in states such as Ohio and Maine.

   • 2019, Razib Khan, Arabia between Africa and Eurasia^[1]:

     But new research suggests another possibility: all Africans may have ancestry from “West Eurasian” populations which moved back into Africa after the “Out of Africa” event ~50,000 years ago. […]

Hyponyms

• sub-Saharan, Maghrebi

Translations

a native of Africa

• Afrikaans: Afrikaan (af)
• Albanian: afrikan (sq) m, afrikane (sq) f
• Arabic: إِفْرِيقِيّ‎ m (ʾifrīqiyy), إِفْرِيقِيَّة‎ f (ʾifrīqiyya)
• Armenian: աֆրիկացի (afrikacʿi)
• Azerbaijani: afrikalı
• Belarusian: афрыка́нец m (afrykánjec), афрыка́нка f (afrykánka)
• Breton: Afrikan (br) m, Afrikanez (br) f, Afrikanek
• Bulgarian: африка́нец (bg) m (afrikánec), африка́нка (bg) f (afrikánka)
• Catalan: africà (ca) m, africana (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 非洲人 (zh) (fēizhōurén)

• Czech: Afričan (cs) m, Afričanka (cs) f
• Danish: afrikaner (da)
• Dutch: Afrikaan (nl) m, Afrikaanse (nl) f
• Faroese: afrikani m
• Finnish: afrikkalainen (fi)
• French: Africain (fr) m, Africaine (fr) f
• Galician: africano (gl) m, africana f
• German: Afrikaner (de) m, (female) Afrikanerin (de) f
• Greek: Αφρικανός (el) m (Afrikanós), Αφρικανή f (Afrikaní)

  Ancient: Ἄφρος m (Áphros)

• Hawaiian: ʻApelika
• Hebrew: אַפְרִיקַאי‎ (he) m (afrikái), אפריקאית‎ f (afrikáit)
• Hindi: अफ़्रीकी (hi) m (afrīkī), हब्शी m (habśī)
• Hungarian: afrikai (hu)
• Ido: (♂♀) Afrikano (io), (♂) Afrikanulo, (♀) Afrikanino
• Irish: Afracach m
• Italian: africano (it) m, africana (it) f
• Japanese: アフリカ人 (afurikajin)
• Kazakh: африкалық (afrïkalıq)
• Korean: 아프리카인 (apeurikain), 아프리카 사람 (apeurika saram)
• Kyrgyz: африкалык (ky) (afrikalıq), африканец (ky) (afrikanets)
• Latin: Āfer m
• Latvian: afrikānis m, afrikāniete f
• Lithuanian: afrikietis (lt) m, afrikietė (lt) f
• Macedonian: Африканец m (Afrikanec), Африканка f (Afrikanka)

• North Frisian: (Föhr-Amrum) aafrikooner m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: afrikaner (no) m

  Nynorsk: afrikanar (nn) m

• Occitan: african m
• Ojibwe: makadewiiyaas
• Oriya: ଆଫ୍ରିକୀୟ (aphrikiyô)
• Pashto: افريقايي‎ m or f (afriqāyí)
• Persian: آفریقایی‎ (fa) (âfriqâyi)
• Polish: Afrykanin (pl) m, Afrykanka (pl) f
• Portuguese: africano (pt) m, africana (pt) f
• Romanian: african (ro) m, africană (ro) f
• Russian: африка́нец (ru) m (afrikánec), африка́нка (ru) f (afrikánka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Африка́нац m, Афрѝка̄нка f

  Roman: Afrikánac (sh) m, Afrìkānka f

• Slovak: Afričan (sk) m, Afričanka (sk) f
• Slovene: afričan m, afričanka f
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: Afričan m, Afričanka f

• Sotho: Moafrika
• Spanish: africano (es) m, africana (es) f
• Swahili: Mwafrika (sw)
• Swedish: afrikan (sv) c
• Telugu: ఆఫ్రికను (āphrikanu)
• Turkish: Afrikalı (tr)
• Turkmen: afrikaly
• Ukrainian: африка́нець (uk) m (afrykánecʹ), африка́нка f (afrykánka)
• Uyghur: ئافرىقىلىق‎ (ug) (afriqiliq)
• Uzbek: afrikalik (uz)
• Vietnamese: người châu Phi, người Phi châu (dated)
• Volapük: (♂♀) Frikopan (vo), (♂) hi-Frikopan, (♀) ji-Frikopan (vo), (♂♀, obsolete) Fikopel
• Welsh: Affricanwr m
• Yiddish: אַפֿריקאַנער‎ m (afrikaner), אַפֿריקאַנערין‎ f (afrikanerin)

Derived terms

• Africanism

Anagrams

• Francia, acifran