WEST AFRICAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does West African mean? 

• WEST AFRICAN (noun)
  The noun WEST AFRICAN has 1 sense:

1. a group of languages spoken in the extreme western part of West Africa

  Familiarity information: WEST AFRICAN used as a noun is very rare.

• WEST AFRICAN (adjective)
  The adjective WEST AFRICAN has 1 sense:

1. of or relating to the countries or cultures or people of West Africa

  Familiarity information: WEST AFRICAN used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WEST AFRICAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A group of languages spoken in the extreme western part of West Africa

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("West African" is a kind of...):

Niger-Congo (a family of African language spoken in west Africa)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "West African"):

Ful; Fula; Fulani; Peul (a family of languages of the Fulani of West Africa and used as a lingua franca in the sub-Saharan regions from Senegal to Chad; the best known of the West African languages)

Serer (a West African language closely related to Fula; spoken primarily in Senegal and Gambia)

Wolof (the West African language of the Wolof in Senegal; related to Fula)

Derivation:

West African (of or relating to the countries or cultures or people of West Africa)

• WEST AFRICAN (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to the countries or cultures or people of West Africa

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

West Africa (an area of western Africa between the Sahara Desert and the Gulf of Guinea)

Derivation:

West African (a group of languages spoken in the extreme western part of West Africa)

 Context examples 

To find similar broadly protective human antibodies, researchers surveyed 349 human monoclonal antibodies derived from the blood of one survivor of the recent West African Ebola outbreak, which was caused by Zaire ebolavirus.

(Antibodies from Ebola survivor protect mice and ferrets against related viruses, NIH)

It is most commonly found in West African countries and causes symptoms of infection resembling those of M. tuberculosis.

(Mycobacterium africanum, NCI Thesaurus)

In trials undertaken in Burkina Faso, mosquito numbers were reduced by 99 per cent within 45 days, according to researchers from the University of Maryland (UMD) and the West African nation’s IRSS research institute.

(Genetically modified fungus hailed as malaria breakthrough, SciDev.Net)

Ultimately, having been highly prized for centuries, the marbled appearance of walrus ivory fell out of favour as West African trade routes opened up, and the homogenous finish of elephant ivory became de rigueur in the 13th century.

(Over-hunting walruses contributed to the collapse of Norse Greenland, University of Cambridge)