# Swahili

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /swəˈhiːli/ · frequency rank #34,311

## Definitions
1. An agglutinative language of the Bantu branch widely spoken in East Africa. Born in its modern form from the hybridization of the Arabic and Bantu cultures, it was the language of the traders in East Africa, and spread along the routes of trade.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Swahili Mswahili / Kiswahili, from Arabic سَوَاحِلِيّ (sawāḥiliyy, “(people) of the coasts”), from سَوَاحِل (sawāḥil, “coasts”), broken plural of سَاحِل (sāḥil, “coast”).

## Common misspellings (10)
`sawhili`, `sswahili`, `swahhili`, `swahiil`, `swahilli`, `swahlii`, `swaihli`, `swhaili`, `swwahili`, `wsahili`

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