# Bantu

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbæntu/ · frequency rank #27,735

## Definitions
1. A member of any of the African ethnic groups that speak a Bantu language.
2. The largest African language family of the Niger-Congo group, spoken in much of Sub-Saharan Africa.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Proto-Bantu *bàntʊ̀ pl (“people”), as reconstructed by the 19th-century linguist Wilhelm Bleek.

## Easily confused with
- **bat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-bat)
- **BTU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-btu)
- **Bau** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-bau)
- **bath** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-bath)
- **bent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-bent)
- **bats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-bats)
- **Bart** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-bart)
- **bunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-bunt)
- **bate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-bate)
- **Basu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-basu)
- **bast** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-bast)
- **batt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-batt)
- **bayou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-bayou)
- **brant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-brant)
- **barth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-barth)
- **batty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-batty)
- **bento** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bantu-vs-bento)
- **ban** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bantu)
- **bank** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bank-vs-bantu)
- **band** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/band-vs-bantu)

## Common misspellings (7)
`abntu`, `banntu`, `banttu`, `banut`, `batnu`, `bbantu`, `bnatu`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bantu