Africa

English · Italiano · Română · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

Africa

/ˈæfɹɪkə/ Australia, Canada, UK
/ˈafɹɪkə/ British, Northern England, Southern
/ˈafɾɪkə/ Scotland, Wales
/ɛfrəkə/ New Zealand
/ɛfrɨkə/ General South African
/ˈɑːfrɪkɑː/ South Asia

Rhymes with -æfɹɪkə

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English Affrike, from Old French Affrique, Affrike, from Latin Āfrica, from Āfrī, singular Āfer (inhabitant of the country of Carthage), in turn either from:

* The Punic or Phoenician word 𐤏𐤐𐤓 (ʿpr /⁠ʿafar⁠/, “dust”), from Proto-Semitic *ʕapar- (“dust, soil”), which has cognates in other Semitic languages.

* The Berber word ifri (“cave”), plural ifran, in reference to cave dwellers of Tunisia (see Tataouine).

Folk etymologies include:

* Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) + φρίκη f (phríkē), meaning "without cold"

* Latin aprica (“sunny”).

proper noun Africas · Afrika · Affrike · Afric · Africk · Afficky

countable, uncountable The continent that is south of Europe, east of the Atlantic Ocean, west of the Indian Ocean and north of Antarctica. the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa
Similar: Dark Continent
countable, nonstandard, proscribed, uncountable Sub-Saharan Africa, contrasted with the Maghreb. The Sahara stood as an important marker between the Maghreb and Africa, not only in modern times but in times immemorial.
countable, historical, uncountable A former province of the Roman Empire, containing what is now Tunisia, northeastern Algeria and portions of coastal Libya; existing from 146 BC (initially in the Roman Republic) through 698 AD, except for 439 through 534 AD, when it was occupied by the Vandals.
countable, uncountable A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: asia, continent, oceania, african, pan-african, mainland, afrika, region, rba, cfa, afro, chau, africain, africaine, afrique, continente

Translations

Every language

name continent

Español	África
한국어	아프리카 Apeurika
日本語	アフリカ Afurika, 阿弗利加 Afurika
中文	非洲 Fēizhōu, 阿非利加 Āfēilìjiā
हिन्दी	अफ़्रीका afrīkā
Kiswahili	Afrika
Português	África
Français	Afrique
Deutsch	Afrika
Italiano	Africa
Ελληνικά	Αφρική Afrikí
Română	Africa
Русский	А́фрика Áfrika
Tiếng Việt	Châu Phi, Phi Châu, Phi
العربية	أَفْرِيقِيَا ʔafrīqiyā, إِفْرِيقِيَا ʔifrīqiyā
עברית	אַפְרִיקָה áfrika

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"Africa." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/africa. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

Africa. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/africa

Chicago

"Africa." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/africa.

BibTeX

@misc{africa_2026,
  title = {Africa},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/africa},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}