Mandingo
0 antonyms and opposites of Mandingo, grouped by meaning.
Noun — A member of a large group of West African peoples living mainly in Mali, Guinea, Senegal, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. The name Mandinka is now generally preferred.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun dated
A member of a large group of West African peoples living mainly in Mali, Guinea, Senegal, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. The name Mandinka is now generally preferred.
“The Mandingo were central to the trading networks of the medieval Mali Empire.”
2. noun dated
The Mande language spoken by these peoples, part of the Niger-Congo family.
“He grew up speaking Mandingo at home and French at school.”
How to use Mandingo
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
Treated as dated in careful writing; use Mandinka. The word also has slang uses that are offensive and racially loaded, and it is best avoided outside historical or linguistic contexts.
Etymology
From Mandinka, the people's own name, by way of Portuguese and French traders' renderings.
Full origin of Mandingo →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Mandingo and Mandinka?
They name the same people and language. Mandinka is the form the people use for themselves and the one preferred in modern writing, while Mandingo is an older external name now considered dated.
Where do the Mandinka people live?
Mainly across West Africa, with the largest populations in Mali, Guinea, Senegal, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Ivory Coast.
Is Mandingo a language or an ethnic group?
Both. The word names a West African people and the Mande language they speak, in the same way that "Yoruba" names both a people and a language.