KHOISAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Khoisan mean? 

• KHOISAN (noun)
  The noun KHOISAN has 2 senses:

1. nomadic hunters and gatherers who live in southern Africa

2. a family of languages spoken in southern Africa

  Familiarity information: KHOISAN used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• KHOISAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Nomadic hunters and gatherers who live in southern Africa

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Bushman; Khoisan

Hypernyms ("Khoisan" is a kind of...):

nomad (a member of a people who have no permanent home but move about according to the seasons)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A family of languages spoken in southern Africa

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

Khoisan; Khoisan language

Hypernyms ("Khoisan" is a kind of...):

natural language; tongue (a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Khoisan"):

Hottentot; Khoikhoi; Khoikhoin (any of the Khoisan languages spoken by the pastoral people of Namibia and South Africa)