Zimbabwean

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. A native or citizen of Zimbabwe, the southern African country ; of or relating to Zimbabwe, its people, or its culture
2. Someone born in or holding citizenship of Zimbabwe ; belonging to or characteristic of the country of Zimbabwe in southern Africa
3. A person who comes from the nation of Zimbabwe ; describing something connected with Zimbabwe or its population

Etymology: The name Zimbabwe comes from the Shona phrase "dzimba-dze-mabwe," meaning "houses of stone," a reference to the great ruined stone enclosures in the southeast of the country, most famously Great Zimbabwe. The Shona word "imba" (house) and "ibwe" (stone) are the roots behind it, and the same building-and-stone vocabulary runs back to Proto-Bantu. The modern country took the name when it became independent in 1980, so the place name is far older than the nation that bears it. "Zimbabwean" is formed by adding the suffix "-an" to "Zimbabwe." That suffix has a long pedigree: it descends from Latin "-ānus," which came into English through Old French and Middle English, and it is the same ending found in words like "American" and "Lutheran." Adding it to a place name is one of the most ordinary ways English makes a word for a person or thing from somewhere.