Dinka

noun

Din·​ka ˈdiŋ-kə How to pronounce Dinka (audio)
plural Dinkas also Dinka
1
: a member of a pastoral people of the Nile Valley in south central Sudan
2
: the Nilotic language of the Dinkas

Examples of Dinka in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Among his many wives, 30 are Dinka and even more are Nuer. Jérôme Tubiana, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2015 The power struggle in South Sudan between President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, and Vice President Riek Machar, a Nuer, took on an ethnic dimension during the civil war. Sam Mednick, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2023 The fighting has largely been seen as a political struggle between factions allied to president Kiir’s Dinka ethnic group and supporters of the country’s first vice president, Riek Machar, mostly from the Nuer ethnicity. Faustine Ngila, Quartz, 1 Feb. 2023 In contrast, the blackness of a Dinka from Sudan is a matter of biological categorization. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 13 Dec. 2010

Word History

Etymology

probably ultimately from Dinka jieŋ, a self-designation

First Known Use

1861, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of Dinka was in 1861

Dictionary Entries Near Dinka

Cite this Entry

“Dinka.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Dinka. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.

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