Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| زِنْجِيّ | zinjiyy | masculine |
| زَنْجِيّ | zanjiyy | masculine |
| أَسْوَد | ʔaswad | masculine |
| سَوْدَاء | sawdāʔ | feminine |
In Arabic, terms for a black person vary depending on whether you are describing a color or a historical/ethnographic identity. The term زِنْجِيّ is used specifically in historical or ethnographic contexts to refer to people of African descent.
What does it mean word for word?
The word زِنْجِيّ is derived from Zanj, which was a historical Arabic term for the inhabitants of the Southeast coast of Africa.
Which one should you use?
There is a distinction between describing a color and describing an identity. The word أَسْوَد is the standard, neutral adjective for the color black and is commonly used to describe a person's skin color without the historical or racial connotations associated with زِنْجِيّ. In contrast, زِنْجِيّ is more specific to historical or ethnographic contexts regarding people of African descent.
How does it change in a sentence?
The masculine forms are زِنْجِيّ and زَنْجِيّ, while the feminine form of the color descriptor is سَوْدَاء.
How do you pronounce it?
zinjiyy
Did you know?
- The term زَنْج (Zanj) gave its name to the Zanj Rebellion, one of the largest slave revolts in the Muslim world during the 9th century.
- While أَسْوَد is the standard word for black, the term سَمْرَاء (samrā') is often used as a complimentary way to describe people with brown or tan skin.
- The word أَسْوَد is used to describe 'black gold', which is the common Arabic idiom for petroleum.
Example sentences for Arabic are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a new neighbor.
- ليلى Laylaمن هو جارنا الجديد يا عمر؟man huwa jaruna al-jadid ya Omar?Who is our new neighbor, Omar?
- عمر Omarإنه زِنْجِيّ طيب جداً.innahu zinjiyy tayyib jiddan.He is a very kind black man.
- ليلى Laylaمن أين جاء؟min ayna ja'a?Where did he come from?
- عمر Omarجاء من غرب أفريقيا.ja'a min gharb afriqya.He came from West Africa.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “negro” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
