Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

abyssinia

/ˌæ.bɪˈsɪ.ni.ə/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 2.40 in modern English

Syllables: A-bys-si-ni-a
IPA: /ˌæ.bɪˈsɪ.ni.ə/

14

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

5

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

Former name of Ethiopia: a country and former empire in East Africa; used as an exonym until the mid 20th century.

adj

Ethiopian; Eritrean; Abyssinian.

Dated

intj

Expression of farewell: I’ll be seeing ya.

Dated; Humorous

Etymology

From Renaissance Latin Abyssīnī (“the Abyssinians”), from Arabic الْحَبَشَة (al-ḥabaša), from حَبَش (ḥabaš, “Abyssinian”). The humorous use of Abyssinia as a parting phrase is due to its phonetic resemblance to I'll be seeing ya.

Origin

Source language: Arabic

Word Breakdown

Root: Abyssīnī, الْحَبَشَة

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌæ.bɪˈsɪ.ni.ə/
British English: /ˌæ.bɪˈsɪ.nɪ.ə/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Abissinia (alternative, archaic)

Derived Forms

Abyssinian

Synonyms

Abassia

Rhymes With

virginia

Questions

How do you pronounce abyssinia?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌæ.bɪˈsɪ.ni.ə/.
What does abyssinia mean?: Former name of Ethiopia: a country and former empire in East Africa; used as an exonym until the mid 20th century.
Where does abyssinia come from?: It is traced to Arabic.

How to pronounce abyssinia

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