afrikaans
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
A Germanic language descending from Dutch.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
afruhkahnzSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
æfɹəˈkɑnz
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A Germanic language descending from Dutch; the primary language of the descendants of Dutch and other European settlers, as well as many mixed-race (e.g. Rehoboth Basters) living in South Africa and in Namibia. Also, one of the eleven official languages of South Africa and until 1990 one of three official languages of Namibia.
A person from South Africa or Namibia who speaks Afrikaans. (More properly called "Afrikaans people" or Afrikaners.)
An official language of the Republic of South Africa; closely related to Dutch and Flemish
adjective
Of or pertaining to the Afrikaans language.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A Germanic language descending from Dutch; the primary language of the descendants of Dutch and other European settlers, as well as many mixed-race (e.g. Rehoboth Basters) living in South Africa and in Namibia. Also, one of the eleven official languages of South Africa and until 1990 one of three official languages of Namibia.
Used this way, afrikaans is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It suits considered writing and prepared speech.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Official and authoritative
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: germanic language descending from Dutch
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.