Bambara
/bæmˈbɑːrə/noun
A member of a major Mande-speaking people of West Africa, their language, or something associated with them, especially the Bambara groundnut.
Did you know?“Bambara” is largely a European form of Bamana, an ethnonym whose deeper meaning is disputed; the Bambara groundnut was named because it was associated with the Bambara people.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Mande languages
Bamana
“The indigenous form associated with the people and language now widely called Bambara; its ultimate internal meaning is debated.”
18th–19th Century
European usage
Bambara
“European transcriptions increasingly used Bambara for the people and their language in the western Sudan region.”
19th Century
French
bambara
“French colonial and scholarly usage established the form bambara for the ethnic group and language.”
19th Century
English
Bambara
“English adopted the name for the people and language, alongside references to their agricultural products.”
Modern English
English
Bambara
“Used chiefly for the language, the people, and compounds such as Bambara groundnut.”