Standard Lemma guide

Ndebele

name · noun · 4 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.

  • UK, US: /(ə)ndəˈbeɪleɪ/
  • UK, US: /(ə)ndəˈbɛleɪ/

1

name

Meaning 1

Any of the languages spoken by these two peoples: Northern Ndebele and the not closely related Southern Ndebele.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A person from South Africa.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A person from Zimbabwe.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a Bantu language sometimes considered a dialect of Zulu

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Matabele

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Nguni

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

2 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 恩德贝莱语 — Translations
  • Japanese: ンデベレ語 — Translations