Standard Lemma guide

Bantu

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈbæntu/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: B AE1 N T UW0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A member of any of the African ethnic groups that speak a Bantu language.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The largest African language family of the Niger-Congo group, spoken in much of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

of or relating to the African people who speak one of the Bantoid languages or to their culture

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the Bantu population of Sierra Leone

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a family of languages widely spoken in the southern half of the African continent

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Bantoid language

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Niger-Congo

Narrower terms: Chichewa, ChiMwini, Chishona, Fang, Gikuyu, Giriama, Herero, Kamba, Kichaga, Chaga, Chagga, Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, Kongo, Luba, Tshiluba, LuGanda, Luyia, Mashi, Mwera, Nguni, Nyamwezi, Pokomo, Shona, Sotho, Umbundu, Swahili, Tonga

5

noun

Meaning 5

a member of any of a large number of linguistically related peoples of Central and South Africa

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: African

Narrower terms: Herero, Hutu, Luba, Chiluba, Sotho, Tswana, Bechuana, Batswana, Tutsi, Watutsi, Watusi, Shona

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Proto-Bantu *bàntʊ̀ pl (“people”), as reconstructed by the 19th-century linguist Wilhelm Bleek.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Polish: Bantu — member of the ethnic group
  • Afrikaans: Bantoe — language family
  • Afrikaans: Sintoe — language family
  • Chinese Mandarin: 班圖語支 /班图语支 (Bāntú yǔzhī) — language family
  • Danish: bantu — language family
  • Dutch: Bantoe — language family
  • Finnish: bantu — language family
  • Galician: bantú — language family
  • German: Bantu — language family
  • German: Bantu-Sprachfamilie — language family
  • Japanese: バントゥー — language family
  • Norwegian Bokmål: bantu — language family
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: bantu — language family
  • Polish: bantu — language family
  • Russian: банту (bantu) — language family
  • Spanish: bantú — language family
Real reading context

Bantu in complete knowledge articles