Mandingo
3 synonyms for Mandingo, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
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
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
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 →