Abyssinia

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From New Latin [Term?], from Arabic حَبَشَة‎ (ḥabaša), from حَبَش‎ (ḥabaš, “Abysinnian”).[1]

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌæb.ɪˈsɪn.i.ə/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌæb.ɪˈsɪn.i.ə/, /ˌæb.əˈsɪn.i.ə/, /ˌæb.əˈsɪn.jə/
  • Rhymes: -ɪniə
  • Rhymes: -ɪnjə

Proper noun

Abyssinia

  1. (historical) Ethiopia.

Translations

Further reading

Adjective

Abyssinia (not comparable)

  1. (dated) Ethiopian; Abyssinian.[2]

Interjection

Abyssinia

  1. (humorous) Expression of farewell: I’ll be seeing ya. [First attested in the mid 20th century.][3]
    From the way that Abyssinia sounds vaguely like I'll be seeing you.

References
  1. “Abyssinia” in William Morris, editor, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, New York, N.Y.: American Heritage Publishing Co., 1971 [1969], OCLC 299754516, page 6.
  2. Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], →ISBN), page 9
  3. “Abyssinia” in Lesley Brown, editor, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 11.
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