Africa

Alternative forms

• Afrika (sometimes used in AAVE)
• Affrike (archaic)
• Afric (poetic, archaic)
• Africk (obsolete)
• Afficky (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English Affrike, from Old French Affrique, Affrike, from Latin Āfrica, from Āfrī, singular Āfer (inhabitant of the country of Carthage), in turn either from:

• The Punic or Phoenician word 𐤏𐤐𐤓 (ʿpr /⁠ʿafar⁠/, “dust”), which has cognates in other Semitic languages.
• The Berber word ifri (“cave”), plural ifran, in reference to cave dwellers of Tunisia (see Tataouine).

Folk etymologies include:

• Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) + φρίκη f (phríkē), meaning "without cold"
• Latin aprica (“sunny”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈæf.ɹɪ.kə/
• (General South African) IPA^(key): /ɛfrɨkə/

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æfɹɪkə

Proper noun

Africa (countable and uncountable, plural Africas)

2. The continent that is south of Europe, east of the Atlantic Ocean, west of the Indian Ocean and north of Antarctica.

   the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa

   Synonym: (sometimes offensive, dated, informal) Dark Continent

3. (nonstandard, proscribed) Sub-Saharan Africa, contrasted with the Maghreb.
   • 2021 June 10, Abdelmajid Hannoum, The Invention of the Maghreb: Between Africa and the Middle East, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 205:

     The Sahara stood as an important marker between the Maghreb and Africa, not only in modern times but in times immemorial.

4. (historical) A province of the Roman Empire containing what is now modern Tunisia and portions of Libya.
5. A surname.

See also

Anagrams

• AFAICR, Faraci

Etymology

From Latin Africa. Cognates include Italian Africa and French Afrique.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈafrika/

Proper noun

Africa f

1. Africa (a continent)

Etymology

From Latin Africa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.fri.ka/
• Rhymes: -afrika
• Hyphenation: À‧fri‧ca

Proper noun

Africa f

1. Africa (a continent)

See also

Anagrams

• Faraci, farcia

Etymology

Feminine of āfricus/Āfricus, as a noun elliptic of terra āfrica/Āfrica (literally “the land of the Afri”). The adjective Āfricus comes from the name of the Āfrī (singular Āfer), a tribal people of the area near Carthage, by addition of the suffix -icus. The Latin term formed alongside Greek ἡ Ἀφρική (hē Aphrikḗ), both terms being attested since the first century.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈaː.fri.ka/, [ˈäːfrɪkä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.fri.ka/, [ˈäːfrikä]

Proper noun

Āfrica f sg (genitive Āfricae); first declension

1. Northwestern Africa, the territory of Carthage, the African coast west of the Nile

   Nilus Africam ab Aethiopiā dispescens (Pliny 5, 9, 10, § 53)

2. Africa (a province of the Roman Empire) (later split into Africa Zeugitana and Africa Byzacena under Diocletian)
3. Africa as a continent, understood as the quarter of the globe south of the Mediterranean

   Si probare possemus Ligarium in Āfricā omnino non fuisse.

   If we could prove that Ligarius was not at all in Africa.

References

• "Africa", in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "Africa", in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Africa in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Etymology

From Latin Africa.

Proper noun

Africa f

1. Africa (a continent)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Africa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.fri.ka/
• Hyphenation: A‧fri‧ca

Proper noun

Africa f

1. Africa (a continent)