Somali

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See also: somali, somalí, and Sómali

English

Etymology

From or akin to Somali Soomaali.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /səˈmɑːli/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /soʊˈmɑːli/, /səˈmɑːli/
  • Hyphenation: So‧ma‧li

Proper noun

Somali

  1. (uncountable) A Cushitic language spoken mainly in Somalia, eastern Ethiopia, Djibouti, and eastern Kenya.
    Somali is the primary language of Somalia
  2. (uncountable) Somali language and literature as an object of study.
    I'm learning Somali.

Noun

Somali (countable and uncountable, plural Somali or Somalis)

  1. (chiefly countable, collective) An ethnic group native to the Somali Peninsula; a Somali, a group of Somalis, the Somalis.
    Historically, Somalis were a nomadic people herding camels, goats, and sheep. Nowadays, many if not most Somalis are urbanized people.
  2. (chiefly uncountable, collective and in the plural) Pertaining to the Somali ethnic group on the whole; the Somali.
    The Somali are an ethnic group of Cushitic origin indigenous to the Somali Peninsula. Their language is called Somali.
  3. (countable, collective) A citizen or resident from the country of Somalia. The term Somalian is sometimes used as an alternative to Somali to emphasize civic affiliations to the Republic of Somalia and de-emphasize ethnic affiliations. Using the term Somalian may be offensive to some Somalis as it is deemed nonstandard. Some Somali ethnonationalists do not consider all citizens of Somalia to be Somali. Some Somali separatists prefer terms such as Somalian or Somalilander in civic contexts over the ethnolinguistic connoted term Somali.
  4. (countable, collective) A person from Somali-majority republics, states, or regions, including but not limited to: the unrecognized Republic of Somaliland, the Somali region of Ethiopia (often called 'the Ogaden', but more neutrally 'the Somali region'), or autonomous states within Somalia's federal system such as Puntland.
  5. A domestic cat breed derived from the 'Abyssinian cat'. This cat breed is alternatively called the 'long-haired Abyssinian cat' or the 'Fox cat'.

Synonyms

Hypernyms

Translations

See also

Adjective

Somali (not comparable)

  1. Of, from, or pertaining to Somalia, the Somali people or language.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ Somali”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Further reading

A Somali kitten.

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Noun

Somali (plural Somali's)

  1. synonym of Somaliër (Somali, person from Somalia)

Proper noun

Somali

  1. synonym of Somalies (Somali language)

Turkish

Turkish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia tr

Etymology

Borrowed from French Somalie.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Somali

  1. Somalia (a country in East Africa, in the Horn of Africa)

Declension

Declension of Somali
singular
nominative Somali
accusative Somali'yi
dative Somali'ye
locative Somali'de
ablative Somali'den
genitive Somali'nin

See also