Meanings
proper noun
- historicalA former kingdom in West Africa, existing from c. 1600–1904 and located in the southern part of present-day Benin.
The way other children hear tell of Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks, I heard of this ‘Black Sparta’, the noble kingdom of Dahomey, fighting to hold off the French to the very end.
2016, Zadie Smith, Swing Time, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, pages 360–361 - historicalFormer name of Benin: a country in West Africa; used from 1958–1975. Official name: Republic of Dahomey.
Origin
- Fondã homè“belly of Dã; snake's belly”
- EnglishDahomey
From Fon dã homè (“belly of Dã; snake's belly”).
More words from Fon
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Arabic دَاهُومَيّ
- دَاهُومَيّ (dāhūmayy)former country in Africa
Basque Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Bengali দাহোমি
- দাহোমি (dahōmi)former country in Africa
Bulgarian Дахомей
- Дахомей (Dahomej)former country in Africa
Catalan Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Chinese Mandarin 達荷美 /达荷美
- 達荷美 /达荷美 (Dáhéměi)former country in Africa
Czech Dahome
- Dahomeformer country in Africa
Danish Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Dutch Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Estonian Dahomee
- Dahomeeformer country in Africa
Finnish Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
French Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
German Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Greek Δαχομέη
- Δαχομέη (Dachoméi)former country in Africa
Hebrew דהומיי
- דהומיי (dahomei)former country in Africa
Hindi डाहोमी
- डाहोमी (ḍāhomī)former country in Africa
Hungarian Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Indonesian Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Italian Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Japanese ダホメ
- ダホメ (Dahome)former country in Africa
Korean 다호메이
- 다호메이 (Dahomei)former country in Africa
Latvian Dahomeja
- Dahomejaformer country in Africa
Lithuanian Dahomėja
- Dahomėjaformer country in Africa
Malay Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Norwegian Bokmål Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Persian داهومی
- داهومی (dâhomêy)former country in Africa
Polish Dahomej
- Dahomejformer country in Africa
Portuguese Daomé
- Daoméformer country in Africa
Romanian Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Russian Дагоме́я
- Дагоме́я (Dagoméja)former country in Africa
Slovak Dahome
- Dahomeformer country in Africa
Spanish Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Swedish Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Tamil டஹோமி
- டஹோமி (ṭahōmi)former country in Africa
Thai ดาโฮมีย์
- ดาโฮมีย์ (daa-hoo-mii)former country in Africa
Turkish Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Ukrainian Дагоме́я
- Дагоме́я (Dahoméja)former country in Africa
Vietnamese Dahomey
- Dahomeyformer country in Africa
Cite this entry
APA
Dahomey. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dahomey
MLA
“Dahomey.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dahomey. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Dahomey,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dahomey.
Source: Dahomey on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.