Amharic

noun

Am·​har·​ic am-ˈher-ik 

-ˈha-rik;

am-ˈhär- 

äm-

: a Semitic language that is an official language of Ethiopia

Amharic adjective

Examples of Amharic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As late as December 2020, Meta lacked hate speech classifiers for Oromo and Amharic, two of the major languages spoken in Ethiopia. —Vittoria Elliott, WIRED, 13 Dec. 2022

The font on the album cover is a play on the Geʽez script used in Amharic, her mother tongue. —Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 20 Sep. 2024

In Amharic, there is a level of linguistic interchangeability when referring to the flower, taking on meanings of youth, rebirth, and expansion simultaneously. —Essence, 16 Sep. 2024

Instructions about how to use the phone are in three languages: English, Spanish and Amharic — a reflection of Takoma Park’s Ethiopian community. —Cathy Free, Washington Post, 15 Jan. 2024

She’s also taught herself some Amharic to communicate with patients who speak that Ethiopian language. —John Kelly, Washington Post, 12 Dec. 2023

Al Otro Lado, a group aiding migrants, is seeking volunteers who speak Russian, Pashto, Creole, French, Portuguese, Amharic, Hindi, Mandarin, Somali, Turkish and Vietnamese. —Elliot Spagat, Fortune, 6 Oct. 2023

Interpreters are available at no cost in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, French, Amharic and Arabic. —Jenna Portnoy, Washington Post, 6 May 2023

The City of Dallas’s top five languages besides English are Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese (simplified), Korean and Amharic, the latter being the most spoken language in Ethiopia. —María Ramos Pacheco, Dallas News, 21 Apr. 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin Amharicus, borrowed from Amharic amarəñña "of Amara (region of highland Ethiopia)," with Latin -icus -ic entry 1 replacing the Amharic suffix -əñña

First Known Use

1682, in the meaning defined above