Oromo
noun
Oro·mo
ȯ-ˈrō-(ˌ)mō 
ō-
plural Oromos or Oromo
1
: a member of a Cushitic-speaking people of southern Ethiopia and adjacent parts of Kenya
2
: the Cushitic language of the Oromo
Examples of Oromo in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
By 2018, Ethiopia had to have an Oromo leader, a member of the country’s single largest ethnic group.
—
Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
In 2020, she was spotted in a social media video where claimed she had been adopted into Ethiopia's Oromo community in Melbourne, per ABC.
—Lynsey Eidell, People.com, 8 Feb. 2025
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 range is home to the Oromo, the largest, single ethnic group in Africa.
—David Escribano, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2024
Protests that began last November, when Oromo farmers objected to government land grabs to expand the capital and clear space for potential foreign investors, have mushroomed into a movement against the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
—James Jeffrey, Foreign Affairs, 7 Nov. 2016
Despite his own Oromo background, Abiy’s first war was with the Oromo, whose youth movement had brought down his hapless predecessor, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
—Alex De Waal, Foreign Affairs, 8 Apr. 2024
Ethiopians’ longing for peace appeared to be answered in 2018 when Abiy Ahmed of the Oromo Democratic Party came to power, ushering in a wave of reforms and promising more inclusive governance.
—Patrick Vinck, Foreign Affairs, 15 Nov. 2023
For the new study, the researchers looked at genomic data from living humans, which included people from various groups: the Mende in Sierra Leone, the Nama in South Africa and the Amhara, Oromo and Gumuz groups in Ethiopia, according to Reuters.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 May 2023
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
In 2020, she was spotted in a social media video where claimed she had been adopted into Ethiopia's Oromo community in Melbourne, per ABC.
—Lynsey Eidell, People.com, 8 Feb. 2025
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 range is home to the Oromo, the largest, single ethnic group in Africa.
—David Escribano, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2024
Protests that began last November, when Oromo farmers objected to government land grabs to expand the capital and clear space for potential foreign investors, have mushroomed into a movement against the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
—James Jeffrey, Foreign Affairs, 7 Nov. 2016
Despite his own Oromo background, Abiy’s first war was with the Oromo, whose youth movement had brought down his hapless predecessor, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
—Alex De Waal, Foreign Affairs, 8 Apr. 2024
Ethiopians’ longing for peace appeared to be answered in 2018 when Abiy Ahmed of the Oromo Democratic Party came to power, ushering in a wave of reforms and promising more inclusive governance.
—Patrick Vinck, Foreign Affairs, 15 Nov. 2023
For the new study, the researchers looked at genomic data from living humans, which included people from various groups: the Mende in Sierra Leone, the Nama in South Africa and the Amhara, Oromo and Gumuz groups in Ethiopia, according to Reuters.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 May 2023
Cite this Entry
“Oromo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Oromo. Accessed 27 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share