Standard Lemma guide

Cushite

adj · name · noun · 3 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

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1

adj

Meaning 1

Pertaining to the ancient people of the Horn of Africa, historically considered the descendants of biblical Cush.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

The Cushitic subfamily of languages.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A member of one of various peoples native to the Horn of Africa, generally restricted to those that speak Cushitic languages.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

Topics: anthropology, human-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Cush + -ite, coined in the 1820s. In the early 19th century, the term referred to the tan to dark-skinned people of the Horn of Africa (synonymous with Herodotus' Ethiopians) in general. The technical linguistic sense is due to Friedrich Müller (1876).

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: كُوشِيّ (kūšiyy) — pertaining to the ancient people of the Horn of Africa
  • Arabic: كُوشِيَّة (kūšiyya) — pertaining to the ancient people of the Horn of Africa
  • German: kuschitisch — pertaining to the ancient people of the Horn of Africa
  • Hebrew: כּוּשִׁי (kushí) — pertaining to the ancient people of the Horn of Africa
  • German: Kuschite — member of one of the peoples of the Horn of Africa
  • German: Kuschitin — member of one of the peoples of the Horn of Africa
  • German: Kuschiter — member of one of the peoples of the Horn of Africa
  • German: Kuschiterin — member of one of the peoples of the Horn of Africa
  • Hebrew: כּוּשִׁי (kushí) — member of one of the peoples of the Horn of Africa
  • Tumbuka: muEtiyopiya — member of one of the peoples of the Horn of Africa