Where does “Swahili” come from?

Swahili (Dutch) comes from English Swahili, from Swahili Mswahili, from Swahili m-, from Arabic سَوَاحِل, from Arabic سَاحِل — coast; boundary, coast; border of the desert.

Swahili (Dutch): Swahili (language)

Definitions

  1. Swahili (language)

Ancestry of “Swahili”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishSwahiliAn agglutinative language of the Bantu branch...
2SwahiliMswahiliA Swahili person
3Swahilim-The prefix for noun class 1 denoting humans; The...
4Arabicسَوَاحِلcoastal dwellers
5Arabicسَاحِلcoast; boundary, coast; border of the desert
Every word from Arabic سَاحِل →Every word from Swahili m- →Every word from Arabic سَوَاحِل →
Swahili — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer