Main Entry: Swa·hi·li

Pronunciation: \swä-ˈhē-lē\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural Swahili or Swahilis

Etymology: Arabic sawāḥil, plural of sāḥil coast

Date: 1814

1 : a member of a Bantu-speaking people of Zanzibar and the adjacent coast
2 : a Bantu language that is a trade and governmental language over much of East Africa and in the Congo region