Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

zimbabwe

/zɪmˈbɑbweɪ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.73 in modern English

Syllables
Zim-ba-bwe
IPA
/zɪmˈbɑbweɪ/
26
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A country in Southern Africa. Official name: Republic of Zimbabwe. Formerly called Southern Rhodesia or Rhodesia.

noun

Any of the prominent cultural ruins of which Greater Zimbabwe is the most well known.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Bantu *mbá Shona imbá Proto-Bantu *ìbʊ̀è Shona ibwe Shona dzimba-dze-mabweder. English Zimbabwe From Shona dzimba-dze-mabwe (“houses of stones”) (see imba (“house”), ibwe (“stone”)), in reference to Great Zimbabwe.

Word Breakdown

  • Root: dzimba-dze-mabwe

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /zɪmˈbɑbweɪ/
  • British English: /zɪmˈbɑːbweɪ/

Inflected Forms

zimbabwes (plural)

Derived Forms

Zimbabwean

Questions

How do you pronounce zimbabwe?
The recorded pronunciation is /zɪmˈbɑbweɪ/.
What does zimbabwe mean?
A country in Southern Africa. Official name: Republic of Zimbabwe. Formerly called Southern Rhodesia or Rhodesia.
Where does zimbabwe come from?
Etymology tree Proto-Bantu *mbá Shona imbá Proto-Bantu *ìbʊ̀è Shona ibwe Shona dzimba-dze-mabweder. English Zimbabwe From Shona dzimba-dze-mabwe (“houses of stones”) (see imba (“house”), ibwe (“stone”)), in reference to Great Zimbabwe.

How to pronounce zimbabwe

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “zimbabwe”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/zɪmˈbɑbweɪ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “zimbabwe”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “zimbabwe” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.