Ethiopian

1 of 2

noun

Ethi·​o·​pi·​an ˌē-thē-ˈō-pē-ən 

1

: a native or inhabitant of Ethiopia

2

: a member of any of the mythical or actual peoples usually described by the ancient Greeks as dark-skinned and living far to the south

3

archaic : a Black person

Ethiopian

2 of 2

adjective

1

: of, relating to, or characteristic of the inhabitants or the country of Ethiopia

2

: of, relating to, or being the biogeographic region that includes Africa south of the Sahara, southern Arabia, and sometimes Madagascar and the adjacent islands

Examples of Ethiopian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

In the post, the mom of three included some snaps of them at her favorite Ethiopian restaurant in Los Angeles. —Kayla Grant, People.com, 14 July 2025

And some of it comes over the Ethiopian Plateau and inhibits the rainfall over the Nile. —Quanta Magazine, 10 July 2025

Colorado is home to more than 30,000 Ethiopian immigrants, according to a study from the University of Colorado. —Colin Wrenn, Denver Post, 9 July 2025

The Afar Triangle’s fast-spreading Red Sea Rift has pulses that move farther along the rift zone and that are more frequent than those of the slower-spreading Main Ethiopian Rift in the western part of the triangle. —Nora Bradford, Scientific American, 7 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Adjective

1557, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for Ethiopian

• bupropion
• dystopian
• fallopian
• utopian