Zimbabwe

//zɪmˈbɑːbweɪ// name, noun

name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of the prominent cultural ruins of which Greater Zimbabwe is the most well known.
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A country in Southern Africa. Official name: Republic of Zimbabwe. Formerly called Southern Rhodesia or Rhodesia.

    "According to Ncube, the MDC believed, from 2000, that Britain's interest in Zimbabwe had more to do with concern for white farmers than black Zimbabweans."

Synonyms

All synonyms
republic of zimbabwerhodesiasouthern rhodesia

Example

More examples

"Zimbabwe was once a colony of Britain."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Shona dzimba-dze-mabwe (“houses of stones”) (see imba (“house”), ibwe (“stone”)), in reference to Great Zimbabwe.

Etymology 2

From the Bantu word for a meeting house.

Related phrases

republic of zimbabwesouthern rhodesia

More for "zimbabwe"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.